DISA STIGS Viewer

RHEL 9 SSH server configuration file must be owned by root.

Overview

Finding ID Version Rule ID IA Controls Severity
V-257998 RHEL-09-255110 SV-257998r1045059_rule   Medium
Description
Service configuration files enable or disable features of their respective services, which if configured incorrectly, can lead to insecure and vulnerable configurations. Therefore, service configuration files must be owned by the correct group to prevent unauthorized changes.
STIG Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide 2024-12-04

Details

Check Text (C-61739r1045058_chk)
Verify the ownership of the "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" file with the following command:

$ sudo find /etc/ssh/sshd_config /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d -exec stat -c "%U %n" {} \;

root /etc/ssh/sshd_config
root /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d
root /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/50-cloud-init.conf
root /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/50-redhat.conf

If the "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" file or "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d" or any files in the sshd_config.d directory do not have an owner of "root", this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-61663r925980_fix)
Configure the "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" file to be owned by root with the following command:

$ sudo chown root /etc/ssh/sshd_config