The macOS system must use multifactor authentication in the establishment of nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic sessions.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-209624	AOSX-14-003024	SV-209624r610285_rule		Medium

Description
If maintenance tools are used by unauthorized personnel, they may accidentally or intentionally damage or compromise the system. The act of managing systems and applications includes the ability to access sensitive application information, such as system configuration details, diagnostic information, user information, and potentially sensitive application data. Some maintenance and test tools are either standalone devices with their own operating systems or are applications bundled with an operating system. Nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic activities are those activities conducted by individuals communicating through a network, either an external network (e.g., the Internet) or an internal network. Typically, strong authentication requires authenticators that are resistant to replay attacks and employ multifactor authentication. Strong authenticators include, for example, PKI where certificates are stored on a token protected by a password, passphrase, or biometric.

Description

If maintenance tools are used by unauthorized personnel, they may accidentally or intentionally damage or compromise the system. The act of managing systems and applications includes the ability to access sensitive application information, such as system configuration details, diagnostic information, user information, and potentially sensitive application data. Some maintenance and test tools are either standalone devices with their own operating systems or are applications bundled with an operating system. Nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic activities are those activities conducted by individuals communicating through a network, either an external network (e.g., the Internet) or an internal network. Typically, strong authentication requires authenticators that are resistant to replay attacks and employ multifactor authentication. Strong authenticators include, for example, PKI where certificates are stored on a token protected by a password, passphrase, or biometric.

STIG	Date
Apple OS X 10.14 (Mojave) Security Technical Implementation Guide	2021-11-19

Details

Check Text ( C-9875r466285_chk )
If the system is connected to a directory server, this is Not Applicable. The following command ensures that a mandatory smart card policy is enforced: # /usr/sbin/system_profiler SPConfigurationProfileDataType \| /usr/bin/grep enforceSmartCard enforceSmartCard=1 If the command returns null, or any other value, this is a finding. The following command ensures that passwords are disabled in the SSHD configuration file: # grep -e ^[\#]PasswordAuthentication. -e ^[\#]ChallengeResponseAuthentication. /etc/ssh/sshd_config If this command returns null, or anything other than exactly this text, with no leading hash(#), this is a finding: "PasswordAuthentication no ChallengeResponseAuthentication no"

Check Text ( C-9875r466285_chk )

If the system is connected to a directory server, this is Not Applicable.

The following command ensures that a mandatory smart card policy is enforced:

# /usr/sbin/system_profiler SPConfigurationProfileDataType | /usr/bin/grep enforceSmartCard
enforceSmartCard=1

If the command returns null, or any other value, this is a finding.

The following command ensures that passwords are disabled in the SSHD configuration file:

# grep -e ^[\#]*PasswordAuthentication.* -e ^[\#]*ChallengeResponseAuthentication.* /etc/ssh/sshd_config
If this command returns null, or anything other than exactly this text, with no leading hash(#), this is a finding:

"PasswordAuthentication no
ChallengeResponseAuthentication no"

Fix Text (F-9875r466286_fix)
For non-directory bound systems, this setting is enforced using the "Smart Card Policy" configuration profile. Note: Before applying the "Smart Card Policy", the supplemental guidance provided with the STIG should be consulted to ensure continued access to the operating system. To ensure that passcode based logins are disabled in sshd, run the following command: /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/sed -i.bak 's/^[\#]ChallengeResponseAuthentication./ChallengeResponseAuthentication no/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/sed -i.bak 's/^[\#]PasswordAuthentication./PasswordAuthentication no/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Fix Text (F-9875r466286_fix)

For non-directory bound systems, this setting is enforced using the "Smart Card Policy" configuration profile.

Note: Before applying the "Smart Card Policy", the supplemental guidance provided with the STIG should be consulted to ensure continued access to the operating system.

To ensure that passcode based logins are disabled in sshd, run the following command:

/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/sed -i.bak 's/^[\#]*ChallengeResponseAuthentication.*/ChallengeResponseAuthentication no/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config
/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/sed -i.bak 's/^[\#]*PasswordAuthentication.*/PasswordAuthentication no/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config