DISA STIGS Viewer

OL 9 SSHD must accept public key authentication.

Overview

Finding ID Version Rule ID IA Controls Severity
V-271721 OL09-00-002359 SV-271721r1091875_rule   Medium
Description
Without the use of multifactor authentication, the ease of access to privileged functions is greatly increased. Multifactor authentication requires using two or more factors to achieve authentication. A privileged account is defined as an information system account with authorizations of a privileged user. A DOD CAC with DOD-approved PKI is an example of multifactor authentication. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000105-GPOS-00052, SRG-OS-000106-GPOS-00053, SRG-OS-000107-GPOS-00054, SRG-OS-000108-GPOS-00055
STIG Date
Oracle Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide 2025-05-08

Details

Check Text (C-75771r1091873_chk)
Verify that OL 9 SSH daemon accepts public key encryption with the following command:

$ sudo grep -i PubkeyAuthentication /etc/ssh/sshd_config
PubkeyAuthentication yes

If "PubkeyAuthentication" is set to no, the line is commented out, or the line is missing, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-75678r1091874_fix)
Configure OL 9 to accept public key authentication by adding or modifying the following line in "/etc/ssh/sshd_config".

PubkeyAuthentication yes

Restart the SSH daemon for the settings to take effect:

$ sudo systemctl restart sshd.service