The .rhosts file must not be supported in AIX PAM.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-215433 | SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00229 | AIX7-00-003139 | SV-215433r991591_rule | 2026-02-06 | 3 |
Description
.rhosts files are used to specify a list of hosts permitted remote access to a particular account without authenticating. The use of such a mechanism defeats strong identification and authentication requirements.
ℹ️ Check
Check the PAM configuration for "rhosts_auth" using command:
# grep rhosts_auth /etc/pam.conf |grep -v \#
If a "rhosts_auth" entry is found, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Edit "/etc/pam.conf" and remove the reference(s) to the "rhosts_auth" module.