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NixOS must not allow direct login to the root account via SSH.

Overview

Finding IDVersionRule IDIA ControlsSeverity
V-268137ANIX-00-000890SV-268137r1131078_ruleCCI-004045medium
Description
To ensure individual accountability and prevent unauthorized access, organizational users must be individually identified and authenticated. A group authenticator is a generic account used by multiple individuals. Use of a group authenticator alone does not uniquely identify individual users. Examples of the group authenticator are the UNIX OS "root" user account, the Windows "Administrator" account, the "sa" account, or a "helpdesk" account. For example, the UNIX and Windows operating systems offer a "switch user" capability allowing users to authenticate with their individual credentials and, when needed, "switch" to the administrator role. This method provides for unique individual authentication prior to using a group authenticator. Users (and any processes acting on behalf of users) must be uniquely identified and authenticated for all accesses other than those explicitly identified and documented by the organization, which outlines specific user actions that can be performed on the operating system without identification or authentication. Requiring individuals to be authenticated with an individual authenticator prior to using a group authenticator allows for traceability of actions, as well as adding an additional level of protection of the actions that can be taken with group account knowledge.
STIGDate
Anduril NixOS Security Technical Implementation Guide2025-08-19

Related Frameworks

1 mapping across 3 frameworks
SCF0 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (1) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

IAC-02.1Group Authentication
1.00
NIST 800-530 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 2 hops (70) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

AC-10Concurrent Session Control
1.00
AC-12Session Termination
1.00
AC-17(10)Authenticate Remote Commands
1.00
AC-2(1)Automated System Account Management
1.00
AC-2(10)Shared and Group Account Credential Change
1.00
AC-2(11)Usage Conditions
1.00
AC-2(2)Automated Temporary and Emergency Account Management
1.00
AC-2(3)Disable Accounts
1.00
AC-2(4)Automated Audit Actions
1.00
AC-3Access Enforcement
1.00

+60 more (top 10 by confidence shown)

CCI1 mapping
CCI-004045
1.00

Details

Check Text (C-268137r1131078_chk)

Verify the NixOS configuration disallows directly logging into the root account via SSH with the following command: $ grep PermitRootLogin /etc/ssh/sshd_config PermitRootLogin no If the value is anything other than "no", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-71964r1131077_fix)

Configure NixOS to ensure the root user login via SSH is disabled. Add the following Nix code to the NixOS Configuration, usually located in /etc/nixos/configuration.nix or /etc/nixos/flake.nix: services.openssh.permitRootLogin = "no"; Rebuild and switch to the new NixOS configuration: $ sudo nixos-rebuild switch