The OL 8 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-248601	SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227	OL08-00-010480	SV-248601r991589_rule	2025-02-20	2

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 with the following command: $ sudo ls -l /etc/ssh/*.pub -rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 618 Nov 28 06:43 ssh_host_dsa_key.pub -rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 347 Nov 28 06:43 ssh_host_key.pub -rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 238 Nov 28 06:43 ssh_host_rsa_key.pub If any "key.pub" file has a mode more permissive than "0644", this is a finding. Note: SSH public key files may be found in other directories on the system depending on the installation.

ℹ️ Check

Verify the SSH public host key files have mode "0644" or less permissive with the following command: $ sudo ls -l /etc/ssh/*.pub -rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 618 Nov 28 06:43 ssh_host_dsa_key.pub -rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 347 Nov 28 06:43 ssh_host_key.pub -rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 238 Nov 28 06:43 ssh_host_rsa_key.pub If any "key.pub" file has a mode more permissive than "0644", this is a finding. Note: SSH public key files may be found in other directories on the system depending on the installation.

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