Set SSH MaxSessions limit

Description

The MaxSessions parameter specifies the maximum number of open sessions permitted from a given connection. To set MaxSessions edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config as follows:

MaxSessions 10

Rationale

To protect a system from denial of service due to a large number of concurrent sessions, use the rate limiting function of MaxSessions to protect availability of sshd logins and prevent overwhelming the daemon.

Remediation

Shell script

The following script can be run on the host to remediate the issue.

#!/bin/bash

# Remediation is applicable only in certain platforms
if [ ! -f /.dockerenv ] && [ ! -f /run/.containerenv ]; then

var_sshd_max_sessions='10'


if [ -e "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" ] ; then
    
    LC_ALL=C sed -i "/^\s*MaxSessions\s\+/Id" "/etc/ssh/sshd_config"
else
    touch "/etc/ssh/sshd_config"
fi
# make sure file has newline at the end
sed -i -e '$a\' "/etc/ssh/sshd_config"

cp "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.bak"
# Insert at the beginning of the file
printf '%s\n' "MaxSessions $var_sshd_max_sessions" > "/etc/ssh/sshd_config"
cat "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.bak" >> "/etc/ssh/sshd_config"
# Clean up after ourselves.
rm "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.bak"

else
    >&2 echo 'Remediation is not applicable, nothing was done'
fi

Ansible playbook

The following playbook can be run with Ansible to remediate the issue.

- name: XCCDF Value var_sshd_max_sessions # promote to variable
  set_fact:
    var_sshd_max_sessions: !!str 10
  tags:
    - always

- name: Set SSH MaxSessions limit
  block:

  - name: Check for duplicate values
    lineinfile:
      path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
      create: true
      regexp: (?i)^\s*MaxSessions\s+
      state: absent
    check_mode: true
    changed_when: false
    register: dupes

  - name: Deduplicate values from /etc/ssh/sshd_config
    lineinfile:
      path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
      create: true
      regexp: (?i)^\s*MaxSessions\s+
      state: absent
    when: dupes.found is defined and dupes.found > 1

  - name: Insert correct line to /etc/ssh/sshd_config
    lineinfile:
      path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
      create: true
      regexp: (?i)^\s*MaxSessions\s+
      line: MaxSessions {{ var_sshd_max_sessions }}
      state: present
      insertbefore: BOF
      validate: /usr/sbin/sshd -t -f %s
  when: ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
  tags:
  - PCI-DSSv4-2.2.6
  - configure_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - sshd_set_max_sessions
PREVIEWING: may/unit-testing