The RHEL 8 SSH daemon must perform strict mode checking of home directory configuration files.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-230288 | RHEL-08-010500 | SV-230288r1069301_rule | CCI-000366 | medium |
| Description | ||||
| If other users have access to modify user-specific SSH configuration files, they may be able to log on to the system as another user. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2025-05-14 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-230288r1069301_chk)
Verify the SSH daemon performs strict mode checking of home directory configuration files with the following command:
$ sudo /usr/sbin/sshd -dd 2>&1 | awk '/filename/ {print $4}' | tr -d '\r' | tr '\n' ' ' | xargs sudo grep -iH '^\s*strictmodes'
/etc/ssh/sshd_config:StrictModes yes
If "StrictModes" is set to "no", is missing, or the returned line is commented out, this is a finding.
If conflicting results are returned, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-32932r567611_fix)
Configure SSH to perform strict mode checking of home directory configuration files. Uncomment the "StrictModes" keyword in "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" and set the value to "yes":
StrictModes yes
The SSH daemon must be restarted for the changes to take effect. To restart the SSH daemon, run the following command:
$ sudo systemctl restart sshd.service