The macOS system must limit SSHD to FIPS-compliant connections.

Severity
Group ID
Group Title
Version
Rule ID
Date
STIG Version
highV-259438SRG-OS-000033-GPOS-00014APPL-14-000054SV-259438r958408_rule2024-12-042
Description
If SSHD is enabled then it must be configured to limit the Ciphers, HostbasedAcceptedAlgorithms, HostKeyAlgorithms, KexAlgorithms, MACs, PubkeyAcceptedAlgorithms, CASignatureAlgorithms to algorithms that are FIPS 140 validated. FIPS 140-2 is the current standard for validating that mechanisms used to access cryptographic modules utilize authentication that meet federal requirements. Operating systems utilizing encryption must use FIPS validated mechanisms for authenticating to cryptographic modules. Note: For more information on FIPS compliance with the version of SSHD included in the macOS, the manual page apple_ssh_and_fips has additional information. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000033-GPOS-00014,SRG-OS-000120-GPOS-00061,SRG-OS-000250-GPOS-00093,SRG-OS-000393-GPOS-00173,SRG-OS-000394-GPOS-00174,SRG-OS-000396-GPOS-00176,SRG-OS-000424-GPOS-00188,SRG-OS-000478-GPOS-00223
ℹ️ Check
Verify the macOS system is configured to limit SSHD to FIPS-compliant connections with the following command: fips_sshd_config=("Ciphers aes128-gcm@openssh.com" "HostbasedAcceptedAlgorithms ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256-cert-v01@openssh.com" "HostKeyAlgorithms ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256-cert-v01@openssh.com" "KexAlgorithms ecdh-sha2-nistp256" "MACs hmac-sha2-256" "PubkeyAcceptedAlgorithms ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256-cert-v01@openssh.com" "CASignatureAlgorithms ecdsa-sha2-nistp256") total=0 for config in $fips_sshd_config; do total=$(expr $(/usr/sbin/sshd -G | /usr/bin/grep -i -c "$config") + $total) done echo $total If the result is not "7", this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Configure the macOS system to limit SSHD to FIPS-compliant connections with the following command: fips_sshd_config="Ciphers aes128-gcm@openssh.com HostbasedAcceptedAlgorithms ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256-cert-v01@openssh.com HostKeyAlgorithms ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256-cert-v01@openssh.com KexAlgorithms ecdh-sha2-nistp256 MACs hmac-sha2-256 PubkeyAcceptedAlgorithms ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256-cert-v01@openssh.com CASignatureAlgorithms ecdsa-sha2-nistp256" /bin/echo "${fips_sshd_config}" > /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/fips_sshd_config