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The ESXi host SSH daemon must ignore .rhosts files.


Overview

Finding ID Version Rule ID IA Controls Severity
V-207613 ESXI-65-000012 SV-207613r378856_rule Medium
Description
SSH trust relationships mean a compromise on one host can allow an attacker to move trivially to other hosts. SSH can emulate the behavior of the obsolete rsh command in allowing users to enable insecure access to their accounts via ".rhosts" files.
STIG Date
VMware vSphere 6.5 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide 2021-09-22

Details

Check Text ( C-7868r364238_chk )
From an SSH session connected to the ESXi host, or from the ESXi shell, run the following command:

# grep -i "^IgnoreRhosts" /etc/ssh/sshd_config

If there is no output or the output is not exactly "IgnoreRhosts yes", this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-7868r364239_fix)
From an SSH session connected to the ESXi host, or from the ESXi shell, add or correct the following line in "/etc/ssh/sshd_config":

Add or correct the following line in "/etc/ssh/sshd_config":

IgnoreRhosts yes