The ESXi host Secure Shell (SSH) daemon must use FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic modules to protect the confidentiality of remote access sessions.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-258732	ESXI-80-000014	SV-258732r933257_rule		High

Description
Without confidentiality protection mechanisms, unauthorized individuals may gain access to sensitive information via a remote access session. OpenSSH on the ESXi host ships with a FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic module and it is enabled by default. For backward compatibility reasons, this can be disabled so this setting must be audited and corrected if necessary.

STIG	Date
VMware vSphere 8.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-10-11

Details

Check Text ( C-62472r933255_chk )
From an ESXi shell, run the following command: # esxcli system security fips140 ssh get or From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following commands: $esxcli = Get-EsxCli -v2 $esxcli.system.security.fips140.ssh.get.invoke() Expected result: Enabled: true If the FIPS mode is not enabled for SSH, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-62381r933256_fix)
From an ESXi shell, run the following command: # esxcli system security fips140 ssh set -e true or From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following commands: $esxcli = Get-EsxCli -v2 $arguments = $esxcli.system.security.fips140.ssh.set.CreateArgs() $arguments.enable = $true $esxcli.system.security.fips140.ssh.set.Invoke($arguments)