The SSH daemon must perform strict mode checking of home directory configuration files.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-72263	RHEL-07-040450	SV-86887r2_rule		Medium

Description
If other users have access to modify user-specific SSH configuration files, they may be able to log on to the system as another user.

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2017-12-14

Details

Check Text ( C-72497r6_chk )
Verify the SSH daemon performs strict mode checking of home directory configuration files. The location of the "sshd_config" file may vary if a different daemon is in use. Inspect the "sshd_config" file with the following command: # grep -i strictmodes /etc/ssh/sshd_config StrictModes yes If "StrictModes" is set to "no", is missing, or the returned line is commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-78617r4_fix)
Uncomment the "StrictModes" keyword in "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" (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) and set the value to "yes": StrictModes yes The SSH service must be restarted for changes to take effect.