AlmaLinux OS 9 must enable the Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM) interface for SSHD.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-269420 | ALMA-09-040390 | SV-269420r1050303_rule | High |
| Description |
| When UsePAM is set to "yes", PAM runs through account and session types properly. This is important when restricted access to services based off of IP, time, or other factors of the account is needed. Additionally, this ensures users can inherit certain environment variables on login or disallow access to the server. |
| STIG | Date |
| CloudLinux AlmaLinux OS 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2025-05-22 |
Details
| Check Text (C-73451r1049672_chk) |
| Verify the AlmaLinux OS 9 SSHD is configured to allow for the UsePAM interface with the following command: $ sshd -T | grep usepam usepam yes If the "UsePAM" keyword is set to "no", is missing, or is commented out, this is a finding. |
| Fix Text (F-73352r1048637_fix) |
| Configure the SSH daemon to use PAM. Add the following line to "/etc/ssh/sshd_config", or uncomment the line and set the value to "yes": UsePAM yes Alternatively, add the setting to an include file if the line "Include /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/*.conf" is found at the top of the "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" file: $ cat << EOF | tee /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/pam.conf UsePAM yes EOF Restart the SSH daemon for the settings to take effect: $ systemctl restart sshd.service |