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← Back to Apple macOS 14 (Sonoma) Security Technical Implementation Guide

V-259448

CAT II (Medium)

The macOS system must set SSH Active Server Alive Maximum to 0.

Rule ID

SV-259448r970703_rule

STIG

Apple macOS 14 (Sonoma) Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V2R3

CCIs

CCI-001133

Discussion

SSH must be configured with an Active Server Alive Maximum Count set to 0. Terminating an idle session within a short time period reduces the window of opportunity for unauthorized personnel to take control of a management session enabled on the console or console port that has been left unattended. In addition, quickly terminating an idle session or an incomplete login attempt will also free up resources committed by the managed network element. Note: /etc/ssh/ssh_config will be automatically modified to its original state following any update or major upgrade to the operating system.

Check Content

Verify the macOS system is configured to set SSH Active Server Alive Maximum to 0 with the following command:

ret="pass"
for u in $(/usr/bin/dscl . -list /Users UniqueID | /usr/bin/awk '$2 > 500 {print $1}'); do
  sshCheck=$(/usr/bin/sudo -u $u /usr/bin/ssh -G . | /usr/bin/grep -c "^serveralivecountmax 0")
  if [[ "$sshCheck" == "0" ]]; then
    ret="fail"
    break
  fi
done
/bin/echo $ret

If the result is not "pass", this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the macOS system to set SSH Active Server Alive Maximum to 0 with the following command:

for u in $(/usr/bin/dscl . -list /Users UniqueID | /usr/bin/awk '$2 > 500 {print $1}'); do
  config=$(/usr/bin/sudo -u $u /usr/bin/ssh -Gv . 2>&1 | /usr/bin/awk '/Reading configuration data/ {print $NF}'| /usr/bin/tr -d '\r')
  configarray=( ${(f)config} )
  for c in $configarray; do
    /usr/bin/sudo -u $u /usr/bin/grep -q '^ServerAliveCountMax' "$c" && /usr/bin/sed -i '' 's/.*ServerAliveCountMax.*/ServerAliveCountMax 0/' "$c" || /bin/echo 'ServerAliveCountMax 0' >> "$c"
  done
done