OL 8 must not permit direct logons to the root account using remote access via SSH.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-248613 | SRG-OS-000109-GPOS-00056 | OL08-00-010550 | SV-248613r1015039_rule | 2025-02-20 | 2 |
| Description |
|---|
| Although the communications channel may be encrypted, an additional layer of security is gained by extending the policy of not logging on directly as root. In addition, logging on with a user-specific account provides individual accountability of actions performed on the system. |
| ℹ️ Check |
|---|
| Verify remote access using SSH prevents users from logging on directly as "root" with the following command: $ sudo /usr/sbin/sshd -dd 2>&1 | awk '/filename/ {print $4}' | tr -d '\r' | tr '\n' ' ' | xargs sudo grep -iH '^\s*permitrootlogin' PermitRootLogin no If the "PermitRootLogin" keyword is set to "yes", is missing, or is commented out, this is a finding. If conflicting results are returned, this is a finding. |
| ✔️ Fix |
|---|
| Configure OL 8 to stop users from logging on remotely as the "root" user via SSH. Edit the appropriate "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" file to uncomment or add the line for the "PermitRootLogin" keyword and set its value to "no": PermitRootLogin no 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 |