The ESXi host Secure Shell (SSH) daemon must not allow host-based authentication.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-258761	ESXI-80-000202	SV-258761r959010_rule		Medium

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

STIG	Date
VMware vSphere 8.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide	2024-07-11

Details

Check Text ( C-62501r933342_chk )
From an ESXi shell, run the following command: # esxcli system ssh server config list -k hostbasedauthentication or From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following commands: $esxcli = Get-EsxCli -v2 $esxcli.system.ssh.server.config.list.invoke() \| Where-Object {$_.Key -eq 'hostbasedauthentication'} Example result: hostbasedauthentication no If "hostbasedauthentication" is not configured to "no", this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-62501r933342_chk )

From an ESXi shell, run the following command:

# esxcli system ssh server config list -k hostbasedauthentication

or

From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following commands:

$esxcli = Get-EsxCli -v2
$esxcli.system.ssh.server.config.list.invoke() | Where-Object {$_.Key -eq 'hostbasedauthentication'}

Example result:

hostbasedauthentication no

If "hostbasedauthentication" is not configured to "no", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-62410r933343_fix)
From an ESXi shell, run the following command: # esxcli system ssh server config set -k hostbasedauthentication -v no or From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following commands: $esxcli = Get-EsxCli -v2 $arguments = $esxcli.system.ssh.server.config.set.CreateArgs() $arguments.keyword = 'hostbasedauthentication' $arguments.value = 'no' $esxcli.system.ssh.server.config.set.Invoke($arguments)

Fix Text (F-62410r933343_fix)

From an ESXi shell, run the following command:

# esxcli system ssh server config set -k hostbasedauthentication -v no

or

From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following commands:

$esxcli = Get-EsxCli -v2
$arguments = $esxcli.system.ssh.server.config.set.CreateArgs()
$arguments.keyword = 'hostbasedauthentication'
$arguments.value = 'no'
$esxcli.system.ssh.server.config.set.Invoke($arguments)