Disable SSH Support for .rhosts Files
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SSH can emulate the behavior of the obsolete rsh
command in allowing users to enable insecure access to their
accounts via .rhosts files.
The default SSH configuration disables support for .rhosts. The appropriate
configuration is used if no value is set for IgnoreRhosts.
To explicitly disable support for .rhosts files, add or correct the following line in
/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/00-complianceascode-hardening.conf:
Rationale
SSH trust relationships mean a compromise on one host
can allow an attacker to move trivially to other hosts.
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
mkdir -p /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d
touch /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/01-complianceascode-reinforce-os-defaults.conf
LC_ALL=C sed -i "/^\s*IgnoreRhosts\s\+/Id" "/etc/ssh/sshd_config"
LC_ALL=C sed -i "/^\s*IgnoreRhosts\s\+/Id" "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d"/*.conf
if [ -e "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/01-complianceascode-reinforce-os-defaults.conf" ] ; then
LC_ALL=C sed -i "/^\s*IgnoreRhosts\s\+/Id" "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/01-complianceascode-reinforce-os-defaults.conf"
else
touch "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/01-complianceascode-reinforce-os-defaults.conf"
fi
# make sure file has newline at the end
sed -i -e '$a\' "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/01-complianceascode-reinforce-os-defaults.conf"
cp "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/01-complianceascode-reinforce-os-defaults.conf" "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/01-complianceascode-reinforce-os-defaults.conf.bak"
# Insert at the beginning of the file
printf '%s\n' "IgnoreRhosts yes" > "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/01-complianceascode-reinforce-os-defaults.conf"
cat "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/01-complianceascode-reinforce-os-defaults.conf.bak" >> "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/01-complianceascode-reinforce-os-defaults.conf"
# Clean up after ourselves.
rm "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/01-complianceascode-reinforce-os-defaults.conf.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: Disable SSH Support for .rhosts Files
block:
- name: Deduplicate values from /etc/ssh/sshd_config
lineinfile:
path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
create: false
regexp: (?i)^\s*{{ "IgnoreRhosts"| regex_escape }}\s+
state: absent
- name: Check if /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d exists
stat:
path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d
register: _etc_ssh_sshd_config_d_exists
- name: Check if the parameter IgnoreRhosts is present in /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d
find:
paths: /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d
recurse: 'yes'
follow: 'no'
contains: (?i)^\s*{{ "IgnoreRhosts"| regex_escape }}\s+
register: _etc_ssh_sshd_config_d_has_parameter
when: _etc_ssh_sshd_config_d_exists.stat.isdir is defined and _etc_ssh_sshd_config_d_exists.stat.isdir
- name: Remove parameter from files in /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d
lineinfile:
path: '{{ item.path }}'
create: false
regexp: (?i)^\s*{{ "IgnoreRhosts"| regex_escape }}\s+
state: absent
with_items: '{{ _etc_ssh_sshd_config_d_has_parameter.files }}'
when: _etc_ssh_sshd_config_d_has_parameter.matched
- name: Insert correct line to /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/01-complianceascode-reinforce-os-defaults.conf
lineinfile:
path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/01-complianceascode-reinforce-os-defaults.conf
create: true
regexp: (?i)^\s*{{ "IgnoreRhosts"| regex_escape }}\s+
line: IgnoreRhosts yes
state: present
insertbefore: BOF
validate: /usr/sbin/sshd -t -f %s
when: ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
tags:
- CJIS-5.5.6
- NIST-800-171-3.1.12
- NIST-800-53-AC-17(a)
- NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
- NIST-800-53-CM-7(a)
- NIST-800-53-CM-7(b)
- PCI-DSSv4-2.2.6
- low_complexity
- low_disruption
- medium_severity
- no_reboot_needed
- restrict_strategy
- sshd_disable_rhosts
