There must be no shosts.equiv files on the RHEL 8 operating system.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-230283 | RHEL-08-010460 | SV-230283r1017094_rule | CCI-000366 | high |
| Description | ||||
| The "shosts.equiv" files are used to configure host-based authentication for the system via SSH. Host-based authentication is not sufficient for preventing unauthorized access to the system, as it does not require interactive identification and authentication of a connection request, or for the use of two-factor authentication. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2025-05-14 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-230283r1017094_chk)
Verify there are no "shosts.equiv" files on RHEL 8 with the following command:
$ sudo find / -name shosts.equiv
If a "shosts.equiv" file is found, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-32927r567596_fix)
Remove any found "shosts.equiv" files from the system.
$ sudo rm /etc/ssh/shosts.equiv