There must be no shosts.equiv files on the RHEL 8 operating system.

Severity
Group ID
Group Title
Version
Rule ID
Date
STIG Version
highV-230283SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227RHEL-08-010460SV-230283r1017094_rule2025-03-262
Description
The "shosts.equiv" files are used to configure host-based authentication for the system via SSH. Host-based authentication is not sufficient for preventing unauthorized access to the system, as it does not require interactive identification and authentication of a connection request, or for the use of two-factor authentication.
ℹ️ Check
Verify there are no "shosts.equiv" files on RHEL 8 with the following command: $ sudo find / -name shosts.equiv If a "shosts.equiv" file is found, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Remove any found "shosts.equiv" files from the system. $ sudo rm /etc/ssh/shosts.equiv