OL6-00-000230 - The SSH daemon must set a timeout interval on idle sessions.

Information

Causing idle users to be automatically logged out guards against compromises one system leading trivially to compromises on another.

Solution

SSH allows administrators to set an idle timeout interval. After this interval has passed, the idle user will be automatically logged out.

To set an idle timeout interval, edit the following line in '/etc/ssh/sshd_config' as follows:

ClientAliveInterval [interval]

The timeout [interval] is given in seconds. To have a timeout of ten minutes, set [interval] to 600.

If a shorter timeout has already been set for the login shell, that value will preempt any SSH setting made here. Keep in mind that some processes may stop SSH from correctly detecting that the user is idle.

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_Oracle_Linux_6_V2R7_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATIONS PROTECTION

References: 800-53|SC-10, CAT|III, CCI|CCI-001133, Rule-ID|SV-208921r793707_rule, STIG-ID|OL6-00-000230, STIG-Legacy|SV-64781, STIG-Legacy|V-50575, Vuln-ID|V-208921

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: fe53c508679d524e98c97a303161ea712be0f7028a76e87cb4e3d1b5ae933940