The Photon operating system must be configured to protect the Secure Shell (SSH) private host key from unauthorized access.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-258896 | PHTN-40-000234 | SV-258896r991589_rule | Medium |
| Description |
| If an unauthorized user obtains the private SSH host key file, the host could be impersonated. |
| STIG | Date |
| VMware vSphere 8.0 vCenter Appliance Photon OS 4.0 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2024-07-11 |
Details
| Check Text (C-62636r933747_chk) |
| At the command line, run the following command: # stat -c "%n permissions are %a and owned by %U:%G" /etc/ssh/*key Example result: /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key permissions are 600 and owned by root:root /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key permissions are 600 and owned by root:root /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key permissions are 600 and owned by root:root /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key permissions are 600 and owned by root:root If any key file listed is not owned by root or not group owned by root or does not have permissions of "0600", this is a finding. |
| Fix Text (F-62545r933748_fix) |
| At the command line, run the following commands for each returned file: # chmod 600 <file> # chown root:root <file> # systemctl restart sshd.service |