RHEL 10 must enforce mode "0600" or less permissive for Secure Shell (SSH) private host key files.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-281085 | RHEL-10-400340 | SV-281085r1195409_rule | CCI-000213 | medium |
| Description | ||||
| If an unauthorized user obtains the private SSH host key file, the host could be impersonated. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2026-03-11 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-281085r1195409_chk)
Verify RHEL 10 enforces mode "0600" for SSH private host key files with the following command:
$ sudo stat -c "%a %n" /etc/ssh/*_key
600 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key
600 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key
600 /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
If any private host key file has a mode more permissive than "0600", this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-85551r1195408_fix)
Configure RHEL 10 to enforce mode "0600" for SSH private host key files with the following command:
$ sudo chmod 0600 /etc/ssh/ssh_host*key
Restart the SSH daemon for the changes to take effect:
$ sudo systemctl restart sshd.service