RHEL 9 must implement DOD-approved encryption ciphers to protect the confidentiality of SSH client connections.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-257988	RHEL-09-255060	SV-257988r991554_rule		Medium

Description
Without cryptographic integrity protections, information can be altered by unauthorized users without detection. Remote access (e.g., RDP) is access to DOD nonpublic information systems by an authorized user (or an information system) communicating through an external, non-organization-controlled network. Remote access methods include, for example, dial-up, broadband, and wireless. Cryptographic mechanisms used for protecting the integrity of information include, for example, signed hash functions using asymmetric cryptography enabling distribution of the public key to verify the hash information while maintaining the confidentiality of the secret key used to generate the hash. RHEL 9 incorporates system-wide crypto policies by default. The SSH configuration file has no effect on the ciphers, MACs, or algorithms unless specifically defined in the /etc/sysconfig/sshd file. The employed algorithms can be viewed in the /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/opensshserver.config file.

Description

Without cryptographic integrity protections, information can be altered by unauthorized users without detection. Remote access (e.g., RDP) is access to DOD nonpublic information systems by an authorized user (or an information system) communicating through an external, non-organization-controlled network. Remote access methods include, for example, dial-up, broadband, and wireless. Cryptographic mechanisms used for protecting the integrity of information include, for example, signed hash functions using asymmetric cryptography enabling distribution of the public key to verify the hash information while maintaining the confidentiality of the secret key used to generate the hash. RHEL 9 incorporates system-wide crypto policies by default. The SSH configuration file has no effect on the ciphers, MACs, or algorithms unless specifically defined in the /etc/sysconfig/sshd file. The employed algorithms can be viewed in the /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/opensshserver.config file.

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2024-06-04

Details

Check Text ( C-61729r925949_chk )
Verify that system-wide crypto policies are in effect with the following command: $ sudo grep Include /etc/ssh/sshd_config /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/* /etc/ssh/sshd_config:Include /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/.conf /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/50-redhat.conf:Include /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/opensshserver.config If "Include /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/.conf" or "Include /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/opensshserver.config" are not included in the system sshd config or the file "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/50-redhat.conf" is missing, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-61729r925949_chk )

Verify that system-wide crypto policies are in effect with the following command:

$ sudo grep Include /etc/ssh/sshd_config /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/*

/etc/ssh/sshd_config:Include /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/*.conf
/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/50-redhat.conf:Include /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/opensshserver.config

If "Include /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/*.conf" or "Include /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/opensshserver.config" are not included in the system sshd config or the file "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/50-redhat.conf" is missing, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-61653r925950_fix)
Configure the RHEL 9 SSH daemon to use system-wide crypto policies by running the following commands: $ sudo dnf reinstall openssh-clients