The Photon operating system must configure Secure Shell (SSH) to limit the number of allowed login attempts per connection.

Severity
Group ID
Group Title
Version
Rule ID
Date
STIG Version
mediumV-258882SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227PHTN-40-000219SV-258882r991589_rule2024-07-112
Description
By setting the login attempt limit to a low value, an attacker will be forced to reconnect frequently, which severely limits the speed and effectiveness of brute-force attacks.
ℹ️ Check
At the command line, run the following command to verify the running configuration of sshd: # sshd -T|&grep -i MaxAuthTries Example result: maxauthtries 6 If "MaxAuthTries" is not set to "6", this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Navigate to and open: /etc/ssh/sshd_config Ensure the "MaxAuthTries" line is uncommented and set to the following: MaxAuthTries 6 At the command line, run the following command: # systemctl restart sshd.service