AIX7-00-003004 - AIX SSH private host key files must have mode 0600 or less permissive.

Information

If the private key is discovered, an attacker can use the key to authenticate as an authorized user and gain access to the network infrastructure.

The cornerstone of the PKI is the private key used to encrypt or digitally sign information.

If the private key is stolen, this will lead to the compromise of the authentication and non-repudiation gained through PKI because the attacker can use the private key to digitally sign documents and pretend to be the authorized user.

Both the holders of a digital certificate and the issuing authority must protect the computers, storage devices, or whatever they use to keep the private keys.

Solution

Change the permissions for the SSH private host key files:
# chmod 0600 /etc/ssh/*key

Item Details

Audit Name: DISA IBM AIX 7.x STIG v3r2

Category: IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 894ff9c834d3fc3fe28036260e3a78cb158d550947d3d2a998b33883d36a7967

Detections

Analytics

AIX7-00-003004 - AIX SSH private host key files must have mode 0600 or less permissive.

Information

Solution

See Also

Item Details