aeacus is a vulnerability scoring engine for Windows and Linux, with an emphasis on simplicity.

aeacus has recently been updated to version 2.0.0! To view the breaking changes, refer to ./docs/v2.md.

0. Extract the release into /opt/aeacus (Linux) or C:\aeacus\ (Windows).

   Try compiling it yourself! Or, you can download the releases here.

1. Set up the environment.

   • Put your config in /opt/aeacus/scoring.conf orC:\aeacus\scoring.conf.

     • Don't have a config? See the example below.

   • Put your README data in ReadMe.conf.

2. Check that your config is valid.

./aeacus --verbose check

Check out what you can do with aeacus with ./aeacus --help!

3. Score the image with the current config to verify your checks work as expected.

./aeacus --verbose score

The TeamID is read from /opt/aeacus/TeamID.txt or C:\aeacus\TeamID.txt.

4. Prepare the image for release.

WARNING: This will remove scoring.conf. Back it up somewhere if you want to save it! It will also remove the aeacus executable and other sensitive files.

./aeacus --verbose release

• Robust yet simple vulnerability scorer
• Image preparation (cleanup, README, etc)
• Remote score reporting

Note: aeacus ships with weak crypto on purpose. You should implement your own crypto functions if you want to make it harder to crack with static analysis. See Adding Crypto for more information.

Only Linux development environments are officially supported. Ubuntu virtual machines work great.

Make sure you have a recent version of go installed, as well as git and make. If you want to compile Windows and Linux, install all dependencies using go get -v -d -t ./.... Then to compile, use go build, OR make:

• Building for Linux: make lin
• Building for Windows: make win

If you're developing for aeacus, compile with these commands to leave debug symbols in the binaries:

• Building for Linux: make lin-dev
• Building for Windows: make win-dev

You can build release files (e.g., aeacus-linux.zip). These will have auto-randomized crypto.go files.

• Building both platforms: make release

All checks (with examples and notes) are documented here.

Other documentation:

• Non-Check Scoring Configuration
• Crypto
• Security Model
• Windows Security Policy

Set the remote field in the configuration, and your image will use remote scoring. If you want remote scoring, you will need to host a remote scoring endpoint. The authors of this project recommend using sarpedon. See this example remote configuration for Linux aeacus.

The configuration is written in TOML. Here is a minimal example:

name = "ubuntu-18-supercool" # Image name
title = "CoolCyberStuff Practice Round" # Round title
os = "Ubuntu 18.04" # OS, used for README
user = "coolUser" # Main user for the image

# Set the aeacus version of this scoring file. Set this to the version
# of aeacus you are using. This is used to make sure your configuration,
# if re-used, is compatible with the version of aeacus being used.
#
# You can print your version of aeacus with ./aeacus version.
version = "2.0.0"

[[check]]
message = "Removed insecure sudoers rule"
points = 10

	[[check.pass]]
	type = "FileContainsNot"
	path = "/etc/sudoers"
	value = "NOPASSWD"

[[check]]
# If no message is specified, one is auto-generated
points = 20

	[[check.pass]]
	type = "FileExistsNot"
	path = "/usr/bin/ufw-backdoor"

	[[check.pass]]     # You can code multiple pass conditions, but
	type = "Command"   # they must ALL succeed for the check to pass!
	cmd  = "ufw status"

[[check]]
message = "Malicious user 'user' can't read /etc/shadow"
# If no points are specified, they are auto-calculated out of 100.

	[[check.pass]]
	type = "CommandNot"
	cmd  = "sudo -u user cat /etc/shadow"

	[[check.pass]]          # "pass" conditions are logically AND with other pass
	type = "FileExists"     # conditions. This means they all must pass for a check
	path = "/etc/shadow"    # to be considered successful.

	[[check.passoverride]]  # If you want a check to succeed when any condition
	type = "UserExistsNot"  # passes, regardless of other pass checks, use
	user = "user"           # an override pass (passoverride). This is a logical OR.
	                        # passoverride is overridden by fail conditions.

	[[check.fail]]          # If any fail conditions succeed, the entire check will fail.
	type = "FileExistsNot"
	path = "/etc/shadow"

[[check]]
message = "Administrator has been removed"
points = -5 # This check is now a penalty, because it has negative points

	[[check.pass]]
	type = "UserExistsNot"
	user = "coolAdmin"

See more in-depth examples, including remote reporting, here.

Put your README in ReadMe.conf. Here's a commented template:

<!-- Put your comments/additions to the normal ReadMe here! -->
<p>
	Uncomplicated Firewall (UFW) is the only company approved Firewall for use
	on Linux machines at this time.
</p>

<!-- You can add as many <p></p> notes as you want! This HTML is simply imported into the existing ReadMe template. -->
<p>
	Congratulations! You just recruited a promising new team member. Create a
	new Standard user account named "bobbington" with a temporary password of
	your choosing.
</p>

<!-- Put your critical services here! -->
<p><b>Critical Services:</b></p>
<ul>
	<li>OpenSSH Server (sshd)</li>
	<li>Other cool service</li>
</ul>

<!-- Put your users here! -->
<h2>Authorized Administrators and Users</h2>

<pre>
<b>Authorized Administrators:</b>
coolUser (you)
	password: coolPassword
bob
	password: bob

<b>Authorized Users:</b>
coolFriend
awesomeUser
radUser
coolGuy
niceUser
</pre>

The aeacus binary supports gathering information (on Windows only) in cases where it's tough to gather what the scoring system can see.

Print information with ./aeacus info type where type is one the following (NOTE: this is deprecated and will be removed in a future release):

• programs (shows installed programs)
• users (shows local users)
• admins (shows local administrator users)

• Easily change the branding by replacing assets/img/logo.png.
• Test your scoring configuration in a loop:

while true; do ./aeacus -v; sleep 20; done

• Set all .desktop files as launchable on Ubuntu+GNOME:

for i in $HOME/Desktop/*.desktop; do
    # Try "yes" rather than true on Ubuntu <20
    gio set "$i" "metadata::trusted" true
    chmod +x "$i"
done

A huge thanks to the project contributors for help adding code and features, and to many others for help with feedback, usability, and finding bugs!

If you have anything you would like to add or fix, please make a pull request! No improvement or fix is too small, and help is always appreciated.

Thanks to UTSA CIAS and the CyberPatriot program for putting together such a cool competition, and for the inspiration to make this project.

This project is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the Air Force Association, University of Texas San Antonio, or the CyberPatriot program.