The Oracle Linux operating system must be configured so that the SSH public host key files have mode 0644 or less permissive.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-221858	SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227	OL07-00-040410	SV-221858r991589_rule	2025-02-20	3

Description
If a public host key file is modified by an unauthorized user, the SSH service may be compromised.

ℹ️ Check
Verify the SSH public host key files have mode 0644 or less permissive. Note: SSH public key files may be found in other directories on the system depending on the installation. The following command will find all SSH public key files on the system: # find /etc/ssh -name '*.pub' -exec ls -lL {} \; -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 618 Nov 28 06:43 ssh_host_dsa_key.pub -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 347 Nov 28 06:43 ssh_host_key.pub -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 238 Nov 28 06:43 ssh_host_rsa_key.pub If any file has a mode more permissive than 0644, this is a finding.

ℹ️ Check

Verify the SSH public host key files have mode 0644 or less permissive. Note: SSH public key files may be found in other directories on the system depending on the installation. The following command will find all SSH public key files on the system: # find /etc/ssh -name '*.pub' -exec ls -lL {} \; -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 618 Nov 28 06:43 ssh_host_dsa_key.pub -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 347 Nov 28 06:43 ssh_host_key.pub -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 238 Nov 28 06:43 ssh_host_rsa_key.pub If any file has a mode more permissive than 0644, this is a finding.

✔️ Fix
Note: SSH public key files may be found in other directories on the system depending on the installation. Change the mode of public host key files under "/etc/ssh" to "0644" with the following command: # chmod 0644 /etc/ssh/*.key.pub