Enable SSH Warning Banner
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To enable the warning banner and ensure it is consistent
across the system, add or correct the following line in
/etc/ssh/sshd_config:
Another section contains information on how to create an
appropriate system-wide warning banner.
Rationale
The warning message reinforces policy awareness during the logon process and
facilitates possible legal action against attackers. Alternatively, systems
whose ownership should not be obvious should ensure usage of a banner that does
not provide easy attribution.
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/00-complianceascode-hardening.conf
LC_ALL=C sed -i "/^\s*Banner\s\+/Id" "/etc/ssh/sshd_config"
LC_ALL=C sed -i "/^\s*Banner\s\+/Id" "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d"/*.conf
if [ -e "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/00-complianceascode-hardening.conf" ] ; then
LC_ALL=C sed -i "/^\s*Banner\s\+/Id" "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/00-complianceascode-hardening.conf"
else
touch "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/00-complianceascode-hardening.conf"
fi
# make sure file has newline at the end
sed -i -e '$a\' "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/00-complianceascode-hardening.conf"
cp "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/00-complianceascode-hardening.conf" "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/00-complianceascode-hardening.conf.bak"
# Insert at the beginning of the file
printf '%s\n' "Banner /etc/issue.net" > "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/00-complianceascode-hardening.conf"
cat "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/00-complianceascode-hardening.conf.bak" >> "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/00-complianceascode-hardening.conf"
# Clean up after ourselves.
rm "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/00-complianceascode-hardening.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: Enable SSH Warning Banner
block:
- name: Deduplicate values from /etc/ssh/sshd_config
lineinfile:
path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
create: false
regexp: (?i)^\s*{{ "Banner"| 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 Banner is present in /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d
find:
paths: /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d
recurse: 'yes'
follow: 'no'
contains: (?i)^\s*{{ "Banner"| 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*{{ "Banner"| 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/00-complianceascode-hardening.conf
lineinfile:
path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/00-complianceascode-hardening.conf
create: true
regexp: (?i)^\s*{{ "Banner"| regex_escape }}\s+
line: Banner /etc/issue.net
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
- DISA-STIG-UBTU-20-010038
- NIST-800-171-3.1.9
- NIST-800-53-AC-17(a)
- NIST-800-53-AC-8(a)
- NIST-800-53-AC-8(c)
- NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
- low_complexity
- low_disruption
- medium_severity
- no_reboot_needed
- restrict_strategy
- sshd_enable_warning_banner_net
