Consecutive login attempts for SSH must be limited to 3.

Setting the authentication login limit to a low value will disconnect the attacker and force a reconnect, which severely limits the speed of such brute-force attacks.

Determine if consecutive login attempts are limited to 3, and that they are logged. # grep "^MaxAuthTries" /etc/ssh/sshd_config If the output of this command is not "MaxAuthTries 6" and "MaxAuthTriesLog 6" this is a finding. Note: Solaris SSH MaxAuthTries of 6 maps to 3 actual failed attempts.

The root role is required. Modify the sshd_config file. # pfedit /etc/ssh/sshd_config Locate the lines containing: MaxAuthTries MaxAuthTriesLog Change them to: MaxAuthTries 6 MaxAuthTriesLog 6 Restart the SSH service. # svcadm restart svc:/network/ssh Note: Solaris SSH MaxAuthTries of 6 maps to 3 actual failed attempts.