The Photon operating system must configure sshd to limit the number of allowed login attempts per connection.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-239165	PHTN-67-000094	SV-239165r675303_rule		Medium

Description
By setting the login attempt limit to a low value, an attacker will be forced to reconnect frequently, which severely limits the speed and effectiveness of brute-force attacks.

STIG	Date
VMware vSphere 6.7 Photon OS Security Technical Implementation Guide	2022-01-03

Details

Check Text ( C-42376r675301_chk )
At the command line, execute the following command: # sshd -T|&grep -i MaxAuthTries Expected result: MaxAuthTries 2 If the output does not match the expected result, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-42335r675302_fix)
Open /etc/ssh/sshd_config with a text editor. Ensure that the "MaxAuthTries" line is uncommented and set to the following: MaxAuthTries 2 At the command line, execute the following command: # service sshd reload