Title

The RHEL 8 operating system must implement DoD-approved encryption to protect the confidentiality of SSH server connections. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

Without cryptographic integrity protections, information can be altered by unauthorized users without detection. Remote access (e.g., RDP) is access to DoD nonpublic information systems by an authorized user (or an information system) communicating through an external, non-organization-controlled network. Remote access methods include, for example, dial-up, broadband, and wireless. Cryptographic mechanisms used for protecting the integrity of information include, for example, signed hash functions using asymmetric cryptography enabling distribution of the public key to verify the hash information while maintaining the confidentiality of the secret key used to generate the hash. RHEL 8 incorporates system-wide crypto policies by default. The SSH configuration file has no effect on the ciphers, MACs, or algorithms unless specifically defined in the /etc/sysconfig/sshd file. The employed algorithms can be viewed in the /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/opensshserver.config file. The system will attempt to use the first hash presented by the client that matches the server list. Listing the values "strongest to weakest" is a method to ensure the use of the strongest hash available to secure the SSH connection. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000250-GPOS-00093, SRG-OS-000393-GPOS-00173, SRG-OS-000394-GPOS-00174, SRG-OS-000125-GPOS-00065

Check Content

Verify the SSH server is configured to use only ciphers employing FIPS 140-2-approved algorithms with the following command: $ sudo grep -i ciphers /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/opensshserver.config CRYPTO_POLICY='-oCiphers=aes256-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes128-ctr,aes256-gcm@openssh.com,aes128-gcm@openssh.com' If the cipher entries in the "opensshserver.config" file have any ciphers other than shown here, the order differs from the example above, or they are missing or commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the RHEL 8 SSH server to use only ciphers employing FIPS 140-2-approved algorithms by updating the "/etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/opensshserver.config" file with the following line: -oCiphers=aes256-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes128-ctr,aes256-gcm@openssh.com,aes128-gcm@openssh.com A reboot is required for the changes to take effect.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-230252r1017070_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-230252

Group Title: SRG-OS-000250-GPOS-00093

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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