The SSH daemon must not allow host-based authentication.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-58537	GEN005527	SV-72967r1_rule		Medium

Description
SSH trust relationships mean a compromise on one host can allow an attacker to move trivially to other hosts.

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2017-03-01

Details

Check Text ( C-59409r2_chk )
To determine how the SSH daemon's "HostbasedAuthentication" option is set, run the following command: # grep -i HostbasedAuthentication /etc/ssh/sshd_config If no line, a commented line, or a line indicating the value "no" is returned, then the required value is set. If the required value is not set, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-63919r3_fix)
SSH's cryptographic host-based authentication is more secure than ".rhosts" authentication since hosts are cryptographically authenticated. However, it is not recommended that hosts unilaterally trust one another, even within an organization. To disable host-based authentication, add or correct the following line in "/etc/ssh/sshd_config": HostbasedAuthentication no