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V-258766

CAT III (Low)

The ESXi host Secure Shell (SSH) daemon must set a timeout interval on idle sessions.

Rule ID

SV-258766r933359_rule

STIG

VMware vSphere 8.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V1R1

CCIs

CCI-000366

Discussion

Automatically logging out idle users guards against compromises via hijacked administrative sessions.

Check Content

From an ESXi shell, run the following command:

# esxcli system ssh server config list -k clientaliveinterval

or

From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following commands:

$esxcli = Get-EsxCli -v2
$esxcli.system.ssh.server.config.list.invoke() | Where-Object {$_.Key -eq 'clientaliveinterval'}

Example result:

clientaliveinterval 200

If "clientaliveinterval" is not configured to "200", this is a finding.

Fix Text

From an ESXi shell, run the following command:

# esxcli system ssh server config set -k clientaliveinterval -v 200

or

From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following commands:

$esxcli = Get-EsxCli -v2
$arguments = $esxcli.system.ssh.server.config.set.CreateArgs()
$arguments.keyword = 'clientaliveinterval'
$arguments.value = '200'
$esxcli.system.ssh.server.config.set.Invoke($arguments)