There must be no shosts.equiv files on RHEL 9.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| high | V-257955 | SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227 | RHEL-09-252070 | SV-257955r991589_rule | 2026-02-05 | 2 |
Description
The shosts.equiv files are used to configure host-based authentication for the system via SSH. Host-based authentication is not sufficient for preventing unauthorized access to the system, as it does not require interactive identification and authentication of a connection request, or for the use of two-factor authentication.
ℹ️ Check
Verify there are no "shosts.equiv" files on RHEL 9 with the following command:
$ sudo find / -name shosts.equiv
If a "shosts.equiv" file is found, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Remove any found "shosts.equiv" files from the system.
$ sudo rm /[path]/[to]/[file]/shosts.equiv