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The SSH daemon ClientAliveInterval option must be set correctly.


Overview

Finding ID Version Rule ID IA Controls Severity
V-67621 AOSX-11-000720 SV-82111r1_rule Medium
Description
SSH should be configured to log users out after a "15" minute interval of inactivity and to only wait "30" seconds before timing out login attempts. Terminating an idle session within a short time period reduces the window of opportunity for unauthorized personnel to take control of a management session enabled on the console or console port that has been left unattended. In addition, quickly terminating an idle session or an incomplete login attempt will also free up resources committed by the managed network element.
STIG Date
Apple OS X 10.11 Security Technical Implementation Guide 2017-01-05

Details

Check Text ( C-68187r1_chk )
The SSH daemon "ClientAliveInterval" option must be set correctly. To check the idle timeout setting for SSH sessions, run the following:

/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/grep ^ClientAliveInterval /etc/ssh/sshd_config

If the setting is not "600", this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-73735r1_fix)
In order to make sure that "ClientAliveInterval" is set correctly, run the following command:

/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/sed -i.bak 's/.*ClientAliveInterval.*/ClientAliveInterval 600/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config