Title

The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not contain .shosts files. (Cat I impact)

Discussion

The .shosts files are used to configure host-based authentication for individual users or the system via SSH. Host-based authentication is not sufficient for preventing unauthorized access to the system, as it does not require interactive identification and authentication of a connection request, or for the use of two-factor authentication.

Check Content

Verify there are no ".shosts" files on the system. Check the system for the existence of these files with the following command: # find / -name '*.shosts' If any ".shosts" files are found on the system, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Remove any found ".shosts" files from the system. # rm /[path]/[to]/[file]/.shosts

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-204606r991589_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-204606

Group Title: SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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