The Photon operating system must configure Secure Shell (SSH) to disable X11 forwarding.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-258875 | PHTN-40-000212 | SV-258875r991589_rule | Medium |
| Description |
| X11 is an older, insecure graphics forwarding protocol. It is not used by Photon and should be disabled as a general best practice to limit attack surface area and communication channels. |
| STIG | Date |
| VMware vSphere 8.0 vCenter Appliance Photon OS 4.0 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2024-07-11 |
Details
| Check Text (C-62615r933684_chk) |
| At the command line, run the following command to verify the running configuration of sshd: # sshd -T|&grep -i X11Forwarding Example result: x11forwarding no If "X11Forwarding" is not set to "no", this is a finding. |
| Fix Text (F-62524r933685_fix) |
| Navigate to and open: /etc/ssh/sshd_config Ensure the "X11Forwarding" line is uncommented and set to the following: X11Forwarding no At the command line, run the following command: # systemctl restart sshd.service |