Title

The macOS system must require individuals to be authenticated with an individual authenticator prior to using a group authenticator. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

Administrator users must never log in directly as root. To assure individual accountability and prevent unauthorized access, logging in as root over a remote connection must be disabled. Administrators must only run commands as root after first authenticating with their individual usernames and passwords.

Check Content

If SSH is not being used, this is not applicable. Verify the macOS system is configured to disable root logins over SSH with the following command: /usr/bin/grep -r ^PermitRootLogin /etc/ssh/sshd_config* If there is no result, or the result is set to "yes", this is a finding. If conflicting results are returned, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the macOS system to disable root logins over SSH with the following command: /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/sed -i.bak 's/^[\#]*PermitRootLogin.*/PermitRootLogin no/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-257184r905185_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-257184

Group Title: SRG-OS-000109-GPOS-00056

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

Controls tied to check. These are derived from the CCIs shown above.