GEN005516-ESXI5-703 - The SSH client must be configured to not allow TCP forwarding.

Information

SSH TCP connection forwarding provides a mechanism to establish TCP connections proxied by the SSH server. This function can provide similar convenience to a Virtual Private Network (VPN) with the similar risk of providing a path to circumvent firewalls and network ACLs.

NOTE: Nessus has not performed this check. Please review the benchmark to ensure target compliance.

Solution

Disable lock down mode. Enable the ESXi Shell. Execute the following command(s):
# vi /etc/ssh/ssh_config

Add/modify the attribute line entry to the following (quotes for emphasis only):
'ForwardAgent no'
'ForwardX11 no'
'ForwardX11Trusted no'

Re-enable lock down mode.

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_VMW_ESXi5_Server_V2R1_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

References: 800-53|CM-6b., CAT|III, CCI|CCI-000366, Group-ID|V-39249, Rule-ID|SV-250592r798775_rule, STIG-ID|GEN005516-ESXI5-703, STIG-Legacy|SV-51065, STIG-Legacy|V-39249, Vuln-ID|V-250592

Plugin: VMware

Control ID: 76ad2637b6c58964c18c023085508f122503616d6a3d1a1775af317c84c49db5