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The OL 8 SSH daemon must prevent remote hosts from connecting to the proxy display.


Overview

Finding ID Version Rule ID IA Controls Severity
V-248901 OL08-00-040341 SV-248901r951587_rule Medium
Description
When X11 forwarding is enabled, there may be additional exposure to the server and client displays if the sshd proxy display is configured to listen on the wildcard address. By default, sshd binds the forwarding server to the loopback address and sets the hostname part of the DISPLAY environment variable to localhost. This prevents remote hosts from connecting to the proxy display.
STIG Date
Oracle Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide 2024-02-19

Details

Check Text ( C-52335r951586_chk )
Verify the OL 8 SSH daemon prevents remote hosts from connecting to the proxy display.

Check the SSH "X11UseLocalhost" setting with the following command:

$ sudo /usr/sbin/sshd -dd 2>&1 | awk '/filename/ {print $4}' | tr -d '\r' | tr '\n' ' ' | xargs sudo grep -iH '^\s*x11uselocalhost'

X11UseLocalhost yes

If the "X11UseLocalhost" keyword is set to "no", is missing, or is commented out, this is a finding.

If conflicting results are returned, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-52289r780268_fix)
Configure the OL 8 SSH daemon to prevent remote hosts from connecting to the proxy display.

Edit the "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" file to uncomment or add the line for the "X11UseLocalhost" keyword and set its value to "yes" (this file may be named differently or be in a different location if using a version of SSH that is provided by a third-party vendor):

X11UseLocalhost yes