Title

The SSH client must be configured to not use CBC-based ciphers. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

The Cipher-Block Chaining (CBC) mode of encryption as implemented in the SSHv2 protocol is vulnerable to chosen plain text attacks and must not be used.

Check Content

Check the SSH client configuration for allowed ciphers. # grep -i ciphers /etc/ssh/ssh_config | grep -v '^#' If no lines are returned, or the returned ciphers list contains any cipher ending with cbc, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Edit /etc/ssh/ssh_config and add or edit the "Ciphers" line. Only include ciphers that start with "3des" or "aes" and do not contain "cbc". For the list of available ciphers for the particular version of your software, consult the ssh_config manpage.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-227897r603266_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-227897

Group Title: SRG-OS-000480

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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