Detections
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ESXI-80-000202 - The ESXi host Secure Shell (SSH) daemon must not allow host-based authentication.

Information

SSH trust relationships mean a compromise on one host can allow an attacker to move trivially to other hosts. SSH's cryptographic host-based authentication is more secure than ".rhosts" authentication since hosts are cryptographically authenticated. However, it is not recommended that hosts unilaterally trust one another, even within an organization.

Solution

From an ESXi shell, run the following command:

# esxcli system ssh server config set -k hostbasedauthentication -v no

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 = 'hostbasedauthentication'
$arguments.value = 'no'
$esxcli.system.ssh.server.config.set.Invoke($arguments)

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_VMW_vSphere_8-0_Y25M07_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

References: 800-53|CM-6b., CAT|II, CCI|CCI-000366, Rule-ID|SV-258761r959010_rule, STIG-ID|ESXI-80-000202, Vuln-ID|V-258761

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: feee35d4f8d6fb285dbe051a0e8d6544b25bc1edd4def1f85002f0ed7ecb8da3