The ESXi host Secure Shell (SSH) daemon must perform strict mode checking of home directory configuration files.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-256389	ESXI-70-000020	SV-256389r885948_rule		Medium

Description
If other users have access to modify user-specific SSH configuration files, they may be able to log on the system as another user.

STIG	Date
VMware vSphere 7.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-06-21

Details

Check Text ( C-60064r885946_chk )
From an ESXi shell, run the following command: # /usr/lib/vmware/openssh/bin/sshd -T|grep strictmodes Expected result: strictmodes yes If the output does not match the expected result, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-60007r885947_fix)
From an ESXi shell, add or correct the following line in "/etc/ssh/sshd_config": StrictModes yes