Details

Permitting direct root login reduces auditable information about who ran privileged commands on the system and also allows direct attack attempts on root’s password.

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’:

Add or correct the following line in ‘/etc/ssh/sshd_config’:

PermitRootLogin no

Supportive Information

The following resource is also helpful.

• https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_VMW_vSphere_6-5_Y21M10_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|III
• CCI|CCI-000366
• Rule-ID|SV-207615r388482_rule
• STIG-ID|ESXI-65-000014
• STIG-Legacy|SV-104061
• STIG-Legacy|V-93975
• Vuln-ID|V-207615

Source

• Tenable.com/audits