Use Only Strong Key Exchange algorithms
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Limit the Key Exchange to strong algorithms.
The following line in /etc/ssh/sshd_config demonstrates use
of those:
KexAlgorithms curve25519-sha256,curve25519-sha256@libssh.org,ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group16-sha512,diffie-hellman-group18-sha512,diffie-hellman-group14-sha256
Rationale
Key exchange is any method in cryptography by which cryptographic keys are exchanged
between two parties, allowing use of a cryptographic algorithm. If the sender and receiver
wish to exchange encrypted messages, each must be equipped to encrypt messages to be
sent and decrypt messages received
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
sshd_strong_kex='curve25519-sha256,curve25519-sha256@libssh.org,ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group16-sha512,diffie-hellman-group18-sha512,diffie-hellman-group14-sha256'
if [ -e "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" ] ; then
LC_ALL=C sed -i "/^\s*KexAlgorithms\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' "KexAlgorithms $sshd_strong_kex" > "/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 sshd_strong_kex # promote to variable
set_fact:
sshd_strong_kex: !!str curve25519-sha256,curve25519-sha256@libssh.org,ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group16-sha512,diffie-hellman-group18-sha512,diffie-hellman-group14-sha256
tags:
- always
- name: Use Only Strong Key Exchange algorithms
block:
- name: Check for duplicate values
lineinfile:
path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
create: true
regexp: (?i)^\s*KexAlgorithms\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*KexAlgorithms\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*KexAlgorithms\s+
line: KexAlgorithms {{ sshd_strong_kex }}
state: present
insertbefore: BOF
validate: /usr/sbin/sshd -t -f %s
when: ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
tags:
- PCI-DSS-Req-2.3
- PCI-DSSv4-2.2.7
- low_complexity
- low_disruption
- medium_severity
- no_reboot_needed
- restrict_strategy
- sshd_use_strong_kex
