TMA-COS-5.1.11
Ensure SSH PermitEmptyPasswords is disabled
MediumLevel 1Automatedcos
Description
The PermitEmptyPasswords parameter specifies if the SSH server allows login to accounts with empty password strings. Disallowing remote shell access to accounts that have an empty password reduces the probability of unauthorized access to the system
How it is checked
Audit method: Shell command
shell
alt0() { command -v grep >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "step1: grep not installed"; return 1; }; command -v sshd >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "step1: sshd not installed"; return 1; }; o=$(bash -c 'sshd -T | grep permitemptypasswords' 2>&1); printf '%s\n' "$o" | tr -s ' \t' ' ' | sed 's/^ //;s/ $//' | grep -Fxq -- 'PermitEmptyPasswords no' || { echo step1: missing 'PermitEmptyPasswords no'; return 1; }; }; if alt0; then echo compliant; fi- Expected output
compliant
How it is fixed
Fix method: Guidance or infrastructure patch
Edit the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file to set the parameter as follows: PermitEmptyPasswords no
Properties
- Operating systems
- Any
- Tags
- authcontainer-optimized-oscosssh
- Reference
- CIS Google Container-Optimized OS Benchmark v1.2.0 - 5.1.11 Ensure SSH PermitEmptyPasswords is disabled
Check this host
Run this on a machine you are allowed to audit. The scan is read-only.
shell
tmaegis scan --target cos