RHEL 8 SSH server must be configured to use only FIPS-validated key exchange algorithms.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-255924	RHEL-08-040342	SV-255924r1017372_rule	CCI-001453	medium
Description
Without cryptographic integrity protections provided by FIPS-validated cryptographic algorithms, information can be viewed and altered by unauthorized users without detection. RHEL 8 incorporates system-wide crypto policies by default. The SSH configuration file has no effect on the ciphers, MACs, or algorithms unless specifically defined in the /etc/sysconfig/sshd file. The employed algorithms can be viewed in the /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/opensshserver.config file. The system will attempt to use the first algorithm presented by the client that matches the server list. Listing the values "strongest to weakest" is a method to ensure the use of the strongest algorithm available to secure the SSH connection.
STIG			Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide			2025-05-14

Details

Check Text (C-255924r1017372_chk)

Verify that the SSH server is configured to use only FIPS-validated key exchange algorithms: $ sudo grep -i kexalgorithms /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/opensshserver.config CRYPTO_POLICY='-oKexAlgorithms=ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group14-sha256,diffie-hellman-group16-sha512,diffie-hellman-group18-sha512' If the entries following "KexAlgorithms" have any algorithms defined other than "ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group14-sha256,diffie-hellman-group16-sha512,diffie-hellman-group18-sha512", appear in different order than shown, or are missing or commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-59544r880732_fix)

Configure the SSH server to use only FIPS-validated key exchange algorithms by adding or modifying the following line in "/etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/opensshserver.config": -oKexAlgorithms=ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group14-sha256,diffie-hellman-group16-sha512,diffie-hellman-group18-sha512 A reboot is required for the changes to take effect.