AlmaLinux OS 9 SSH public host key files must have mode 0644 or less permissive.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-269266	SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227	ALMA-09-021030	SV-269266r1050148_rule	2025-02-20	1

Description
If a public host key file is modified by an unauthorized user, the SSH service may be compromised. Whilst public keys are publicly readable, they should not be writeable by nonowners.

ℹ️ Check
Verify the SSH public host key files have a mode of "0644" or less permissive with the following command: Note: SSH public key files may be found in other directories on the system depending on the installation. $ stat -c "%#a %n" /etc/ssh/ssh_host*key.pub 0644 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub 0644 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub If any public key has a mode more permissive than "0644", this is a finding.

ℹ️ Check

Verify the SSH public host key files have a mode of "0644" or less permissive with the following command: Note: SSH public key files may be found in other directories on the system depending on the installation. $ stat -c "%#a %n" /etc/ssh/ssh_host*key.pub 0644 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub 0644 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub If any public key has a mode more permissive than "0644", this is a finding.

✔️ Fix
Change the mode of public host key files under "/etc/ssh" to "0644" with the following command: $ chmod 0644 /etc/ssh/*key.pub Restart the SSH daemon for the changes to take effect: $ systemctl restart sshd.service