Title

Amazon Linux 2023 SSHD must not allow blank passwords. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

If an account has an empty password, anyone could log on and run commands with the privileges of that account. Accounts with empty passwords must never be used in operational environments. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000106-GPOS-00053, SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00229

Check Content

Verify Amazon Linux 2023 remote access using SSH prevents logging on with a blank password with the following command: $ sudo grep -ir PermitEmptyPasswords /etc/ssh/sshd_config /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/ /etc/ssh/sshd_config:PermitEmptyPasswords no If the "PermitEmptyPassword" keyword is set to "yes", is missing, or is commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure Amazon Linux 2023 to prevent SSH users from logging on with blank passwords. Edit the following line in "etc/ssh/sshd_config" or in a file in "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d": PermitEmptyPasswords no Restart the SSH daemon for the settings to take effect: $ sudo systemctl restart sshd.service

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-274048r1120132_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-274048

Group Title: SRG-OS-000106-GPOS-00053

Expert Comments

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