Title

The system must not permit root logins using remote access programs such as SSH. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

Even though communications are encrypted, an additional layer of security may be gained by extending the policy of not logging directly on as root. In addition, logging in with a user-specific account preserves the audit trail.

Check Content

Determine if the SSH daemon is configured to permit root logins. Procedure: # grep -v "^#" /etc/ssh/sshd_config | grep -i permitrootlogin # grep -v "^#" /etc/openssh/sshd_config | grep -i permitrootlogin If the PermitRootLogin entry is not found or is not set to "no", this is a finding.

Fix Text

Edit the configuration file and set the PermitRootLogin option to no.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID:

Vulnerability ID: V-1047

Group Title:

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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