The ESXi host Secure Shell (SSH) daemon must not allow host-based authentication.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-256386 | SRG-OS-000480-VMM-002000 | ESXI-70-000013 | SV-256386r959010_rule | 2025-02-11 | 1 |
Description
SSH trust relationships mean a compromise on one host can allow an attacker to move trivially to other hosts. SSH's cryptographic host-based authentication is more secure than ".rhosts" authentication because hosts are cryptographically authenticated. However, it is not recommended that hosts unilaterally trust one another, even within an organization.
ℹ️ Check
From an ESXi shell, run the following command:
# /usr/lib/vmware/openssh/bin/sshd -T|grep hostbasedauthentication
Expected result:
hostbasedauthentication no
If the output does not match the expected result, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
From an ESXi shell, add or correct the following line in "/etc/ssh/sshd_config":
HostbasedAuthentication no