The ESXi host Secure Shell (SSH) daemon must not allow authentication using an empty password.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| low | V-256387 | SRG-OS-000480-VMM-002000 | ESXI-70-000015 | SV-256387r959010_rule | 2025-02-11 | 1 |
Description
Configuring this setting for the SSH daemon provides additional assurance that remote logon via SSH will require a password, even in the event of misconfiguration elsewhere.
ℹ️ Check
From an ESXi shell, run the following command:
# /usr/lib/vmware/openssh/bin/sshd -T|grep permitemptypasswords
Expected result:
permitemptypasswords 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":
PermitEmptyPasswords no