Details

If compression is allowed in an SSH connection prior to authentication, vulnerabilities in the compression software could result in compromise of the system from an unauthenticated connection, potentially with root privileges.

Solution

From an SSH session connected to the ESXi host, or from the ESXi shell, add or correct the following line in ‘/etc/ssh/sshd_config’:

Compression no

Supportive Information

The following resource is also helpful.

• https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_VMW_vSphere_6-7_STIG.zip

This security hardening control applies to the following category of controls within NIST 800-53: Configuration Management.This control applies to the following type of system Unix.

References

• 800-53|CM-6b.
• CAT|II
• CCI|CCI-000366
• CSCv6|3.1
• Rule-ID|SV-239276r674757_rule
• STIG-ID|ESXI-67-000021
• STIG-Legacy|SV-104075
• STIG-Legacy|V-93989
• Vuln-ID|V-239276

Source

• Tenable.com/audits