Installing and Configuring USBGuard

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Installing and Configuring USBGuard

In this lab, we'll be setting up USBGuard to to control which USB devices are allowd to communicate with our hosts once they are plugged in. USB devices are an easy way for attackers to gain a foothold in our environments via USB Dropper attacks. USBGuard is a great security control that can help us avoid being infected by a malicious USB device. *This course is not approved or sponsored by Red Hat.*

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Lab Info

Level

Intermediate

Last updated

Aug 23, 2025

Duration

30m

Challenge

Install and Configure USBGuard with Basic Settings

Install USBGuard

[root@host]# yum install -y usbguard

Start the USBGuard service

[root@host]# systemctl start usbguard.service

Generate a base policy for USBGuard

[root@host]# usbguard generate-policy > /etc/usbguard/rules.conf

Restart the USBGuard service after creating the base policy

[root@host]# systemctl restart usbguard.service

Enable the USBGuard service to start at boot

[root@host]# systemctl enable usbguard.service

Challenge

Configure USBGuard Permissions

Create a group named USBGuard-Users

[root@host]# groupadd USBGuard-Users

Add cloud_user to the USBGuard-Users group

[root@host]# usermod -a -G USBGuard-Users cloud_user

- Verify group membership:

  ```
  [root@host]# cat /etc/group | grep USBGuard-Users
  ```

Update USBGuard to permit the USBGuard-Users group to make changes to USBGuard

[root@host]# nano /etc/usbguard/usbguard-daemon.conf

Change the IPCAllowedGroups line to read:

IPCAllowedGroups=USBGuard-Users

Restart the USBGuard service

[root@host]# systemctl restart usbguard.service

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