Ubuntu 24.04 LTS must implement smart card logins for multifactor authentication for local and network access to privileged and nonprivileged accounts over SSH.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-270722 | SRG-OS-000105-GPOS-00052 | UBTU-24-400030 | SV-270722r1067130_rule | 2026-02-06 | 1 |
Description
Without the use of multifactor authentication, the ease of access to privileged functions is greatly increased.
Multifactor authentication requires using two or more factors to achieve authentication.
Factors include:
1) Something a user knows (e.g., password/PIN);
2) Something a user has (e.g., cryptographic identification device, token); and
3) Something a user is (e.g., biometric).
A privileged account is defined as an information system account with authorizations of a privileged user.
Network access is defined as access to an information system by a user (or a process acting on behalf of a user) communicating through a network (e.g., local area network, wide area network, or the internet).
The DOD common access card (CAC) with DOD-approved PKI is an example of multifactor authentication.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000105-GPOS-00052, SRG-OS-000107-GPOS-00054, SRG-OS-000106-GPOS-00053, SRG-OS-000108-GPOS-00055
ℹ️ Check
Verify the sshd daemon allows public key authentication with the following command:
$ sudo grep -r ^PubkeyAuthentication /etc/ssh/sshd_config*
/etc/ssh/sshd_config:PubkeyAuthentication yes
If "PubkeyAuthentication" is not set to "yes", is commented out, is missing, or conflicting results are returned, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Configure Ubuntu 24.04 LTS to use multifactor authentication for access to accounts.
Set the sshd option "PubkeyAuthentication" to "yes" in the "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" file.
PubkeyAuthentication yes