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V-256392

CAT II (Medium)

The ESXi host Secure Shell (SSH) daemon must be configured to not allow X11 forwarding.

Rule ID

SV-256392r959010_rule

STIG

VMware vSphere 7.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V1R4

CCIs

CCI-000366

Discussion

X11 forwarding over SSH allows for the secure remote execution of X11-based applications. This feature can increase the attack surface of an SSH connection.

Check Content

From an ESXi shell, run the following command:

# /usr/lib/vmware/openssh/bin/sshd -T|grep x11forwarding

Expected result:

x11forwarding no

If the output does not match the expected result, this is a finding.

Fix Text

From an ESXi shell, add or correct the following line in "/etc/ssh/sshd_config":

X11Forwarding no