The Photon operating system must configure Secure Shell (SSH) to disallow Generic Security Service Application Program Interface (GSSAPI) authentication.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-258874	PHTN-40-000211	SV-258874r933683_rule		Medium

Description
GSSAPI authentication is used to provide additional authentication mechanisms to applications. Allowing GSSAPI authentication through Secure Shell (SSH) exposes the system's GSSAPI to remote hosts, increasing the attack surface of the system.

STIG	Date
VMware vSphere 8.0 vCenter Appliance Photon OS 4.0 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-10-29

Details

Check Text ( C-62614r933681_chk )
At the command line, run the following command to verify the running configuration of sshd: # sshd -T|&grep -i GSSAPIAuthentication Example result: gssapiauthentication no If "GSSAPIAuthentication" is not set to "no", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-62523r933682_fix)
Navigate to and open: /etc/ssh/sshd_config Ensure the "GSSAPIAuthentication" line is uncommented and set to the following: GSSAPIAuthentication no At the command line, run the following command: # systemctl restart sshd.service