Lynis - Security auditing and hardening tool, for UNIX-based systems
Lynis is a security auditing for UNIX derivatives like Linux, macOS, BSD, and Solaris. It performs an in-depth security scan on the system itself, with the goal to detect issues and provide tips for further system hardening. It will also scan for general system information, vulnerable software packages, and possible configuration issues. Lynis is commonly used by people in the "blue team" to assess the security defenses of their systems.
We believe software should be simple, updated on a regular basis, and open. You should be able to trust, understand, and have the option to change the software. Many agree with us, as the software is being used by thousands every day to protect their systems.
Main goals:
- Automated security auditing
- Compliance testing (e.g. ISO27001, PCI-DSS, HIPAA)
- Detect vulnerabilities
The software aims to also assist with:
- Configuration management
- Software patch management
- System hardening
- Penetration testing
- Intrusion detection
License:
- GPLv3
Typical users of the software:
- System administrators
- Auditors
- Security officers
- Security professionals
- Clone or download the project files. No compilation or installation is required.
- Execute:
./lynis audit system
If you want to run the software as root, we suggest changing the ownership of the files. Use chown -R 0:0 to recursively alter the owner and group and set it to user ID 0 (root).
Stable releases of Lynis are packaged and made available as RPM or DEB file. The CISOfy software repository can be used to install Lynis on systems running CentOS, Debian, Fedora, OEL, openSUSE, RHEL, Ubuntu, and others.
Full documentation: https://cisofy.com/documentation/lynis/
If you want to create your own tests, have a look at the Lynis software development kit.
We participate in the badge program of the Linux Foundation. By clicking on the badge you will see the related details.
This software is also available as part of an enterprise solution. It includes additional functionality (plugins, centralized system, reporting, dashboard), and support.
Lynis is collecting some awards and we are proud of that.
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2013
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2014
We love contributors. Do you have something to share? Or help out with translating Lynis into your own language? Create an issue or pull request on GitHub, or send us an e-mail: lynis-dev@cisofy.com. More details can be found in the Contributors Guide.
You can also simply contribute to the project by 'starring' the project and show your appreciation.