The ESXi host Secure Shell (SSH) daemon must ignore .rhosts files.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-258738 | ESXI-80-000052 | SV-258738r933275_rule | CCI-000767 | medium |
| Description | ||||
| SSH trust relationships mean a compromise on one host can allow an attacker to move trivially to other hosts. SSH can emulate the behavior of the obsolete "rsh" command in allowing users to enable insecure access to their accounts via ".rhosts" files. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| VMware vSphere 8.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2023-10-11 | |||
Related Frameworks
3 paths across 3 frameworks
Related Frameworks
NIST 800-531 mapping
IA-2(3)
1.00
- DISA · V1R1 · disa_xccdf · related
- DISA · 2025-01-23 · disa_cci_list · equivalent
NIST 800-1711 mapping
3.5.3
1.00
- DISA · V1R1 · disa_xccdf · related
- DISA · 2025-01-23 · disa_cci_list · equivalent
- NIST · Rev 2 (Feb 2020, errata Jan 2021) · nist_800_171_app_d · equivalent
CCI1 mapping
CCI-000767
1.00
- DISA · V1R1 · disa_xccdf · related
Details
Check Text (C-258738r933275_chk)
From an ESXi shell, run the following command:
# esxcli system ssh server config list -k ignorerhosts
or
From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following commands:
$esxcli = Get-EsxCli -v2
$esxcli.system.ssh.server.config.list.invoke() | Where-Object {$_.Key -eq 'ignorerhosts'}
Example result:
ignorerhosts yes
If "ignorerhosts" is not configured to "yes", this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-62387r933274_fix)
From an ESXi shell, run the following command:
# esxcli system ssh server config set -k ignorerhosts -v yes
or
From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following commands:
$esxcli = Get-EsxCli -v2
$arguments = $esxcli.system.ssh.server.config.set.CreateArgs()
$arguments.keyword = 'ignorerhosts'
$arguments.value = 'yes'
$esxcli.system.ssh.server.config.set.Invoke($arguments)