STIGUI
V-261293CAT II — Medium severitySV-261293r996357_rule

SLEM 5 SSH daemon public host key files must have mode 644 or less permissive.

Rule version SLEM-05-232040 · STIG v1 · 2026-08-20

Discussion

If a public host key file is modified by an unauthorized user, the SSH service may be compromised.

Check

Verify SLEM 5 SSH daemon public host key files have mode "644" or less permissive with the following command:

Note: SSH public key files may be found in other directories on the system depending on the installation.

     > find /etc/ssh -name 'ssh_host*key.pub' -exec stat -c "%a %n" {} \;
     644 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub
     644 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key.pub
     644 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub
     644 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub

If any file has a mode more permissive than "644", this is a finding.

Fix

Configure SLEM 5 SSH daemon public host key files have mode "644" or less permissive.

Note: SSH public key files may be found in other directories on the system depending on the installation.

Change the mode of public host key files under "/etc/ssh" to "644" with the following command:

     > sudo chmod 644 /etc/ssh/ssh_host*key.pub

Identifiers

Group ID
V-261293
Group title
SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227
Rule ID
SV-261293r996357_rule
Check ID
C-65022r996355_chk
Fix ID
F-64930r996356_fix