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← Back to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide

V-281263

CAT II (Medium)

RHEL 10 must be configured so that SSHD accepts public key authentication.

Rule ID

SV-281263r1184763_rule

STIG

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V1R1

CCIs

CCI-000765CCI-000766

Discussion

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 common access card (CAC) with DOD-approved PKI is an example of multifactor authentication. OpenSSH uses the first occurrence of a keyword it sees, and drop-in files are read in lexicographical order at the start of the configuration. Red Hat recommends using drop-in files rather than changing base configuration files. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000105-GPOS-00052, SRG-OS-000106-GPOS-00053, SRG-OS-000107-GPOS-00054, SRG-OS-000108-GPOS-00055

Check Content

Note: If the system administrator demonstrates the use of an approved alternate multifactor authentication method, this requirement is not applicable.

Verify RHEL 10 SSH daemons accept public key encryption with the following command:

$ sudo /usr/sbin/sshd -dd 2>&1 | awk '/filename/ {print $4}' | tr -d '\r' | tr '\n' ' ' | xargs sudo grep -iH '^\s*pubkeyauthentication'
/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/10-stig.conf:PubkeyAuthentication yes

Verify the runtime setting with the following command:

$ sudo sshd -T | grep -i pubkeyauthentication
pubkeyauthentication yes

If the "PubkeyAuthentication" keyword is not set to "yes" in a drop-in that lexicographically precedes 50-redhat.conf, or if no output is returned, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure RHEL 10 to accept public key authentication.

In "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d", create a drop file that will lexicographically precede 50-redhat.conf and add the following line:

PubkeyAuthentication yes

Restart the SSH daemon with the following command for the settings to take effect:

$ sudo systemctl restart sshd.service