KERNEL-HARDENING-CHECKER(1)

NAME
kernel-hardening-checker - tool for checking the security hardening options of the Linux kernel

SYNOPSIS
kernel-hardening-checker [OPTIONS]

DESCRIPTION
kernel-hardening-checker is a tool for checking the security hardening options of the Linux kernel. It can analyze Kconfig options (compile-time), kernel command line arguments (boot-time), and sysctl parameters (runtime) for the following architectures: X86_64, X86_32, ARM64, ARM, RISC-V. Please note that changing the Linux kernel security parameters may also affect system performance and functionality of userspace software. Therefore, when setting these parameters, consider the threat model of your Linux-based information system and thoroughly test its typical workload.

OPTIONS

-h, --help
    Show the help message and exit.

--version
    Show program's version number and exit.

-m {verbose,json,show_ok,show_fail}, --mode {verbose,json,show_ok,show_fail}
    Select a special output mode instead of the default one:

    verbose
        Provide additional information: print the configuration options without a corresponding check and show the internals of complex checks.

    json
        Report in JSON format.

    show_ok
        Show only successful checks.

    show_fail
        Show only failed checks.

-a, --autodetect
    Autodetect and check the security hardening options of the running kernel.

-c CONFIG, --config CONFIG
    Check the security hardening options in a Kconfig file (also supports *.gz files).

-v KERNEL_VERSION, --kernel-version KERNEL_VERSION
    Extract the kernel version from a version file (such as /proc/version) instead of using a Kconfig file.

-l CMDLINE, --cmdline CMDLINE
    Check the security hardening options in a kernel command line file (such as /proc/cmdline).

-s SYSCTL, --sysctl SYSCTL
    Check the security hardening options in a sysctl output file (the result of "sudo sysctl -a > file").

-p {X86_64,X86_32,ARM64,ARM,RISCV}, --print {X86_64,X86_32,ARM64,ARM,RISCV}
    Print security hardening recommendations for the selected architecture.

-g {X86_64,X86_32,ARM64,ARM,RISCV}, --generate {X86_64,X86_32,ARM64,ARM,RISCV}
    Generate a Kconfig fragment containing the security hardening options for the selected architecture.

AUTHOR
Written by Alexander Popov with help from the contributors.

REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs at: <https://github.com/a13xp0p0v/kernel-hardening-checker/issues>

COPYRIGHT
Copyright: 2018-2025, Alexander Popov <alex.popov@linux.com>
License: GPL-3.0