The Photon operating system must configure sshd to limit the number of allowed login attempts per connection.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-256557	PHTN-30-000088	SV-256557r887345_rule		Medium

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.

STIG	Date
VMware vSphere 7.0 vCenter Appliance Photon OS Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-12-01

Details

Check Text ( C-60232r887343_chk )
At the command line, run the following command: # sshd -T|&grep -i MaxAuthTries Expected result: MaxAuthTries 6 If the output does not match the expected result, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-60175r887344_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