STIGQter: STIG Summary: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide Version: 2 Release: 8 Benchmark Date: 01 Jul 2026:

The RHEL 8 SSH daemon must perform strict mode checking of home directory configuration files.

DISA Rule

SV-230288r1069301_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-230288

Group Title

SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227

Rule Version

RHEL-08-010500

Severity

CAT II

CCI(s)

• CCI-000366 - Implement the security configuration settings.

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

Configure SSH to perform strict mode checking of home directory configuration files. Uncomment the "StrictModes" keyword in "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" and set the value to "yes":

StrictModes yes

The SSH daemon must be restarted for the changes to take effect. To restart the SSH daemon, run the following command:

$ sudo systemctl restart sshd.service

Check Contents

Verify the SSH daemon performs strict mode checking of home directory configuration files with the following command:

$ sudo /usr/sbin/sshd -dd 2>&1 | awk '/filename/ {print $4}' | tr -d '\r' | tr '\n' ' ' | xargs sudo grep -iH '^\s*strictmodes'

/etc/ssh/sshd_config:StrictModes yes

If "StrictModes" is set to "no", is missing, or the returned line is commented out, this is a finding.

If conflicting results are returned, this is a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-230288

Documentable

False

Rule Version

RHEL-08-010500

Severity Override Guidance

Verify the SSH daemon performs strict mode checking of home directory configuration files with the following command:

$ sudo /usr/sbin/sshd -dd 2>&1 | awk '/filename/ {print $4}' | tr -d '\r' | tr '\n' ' ' | xargs sudo grep -iH '^\s*strictmodes'

/etc/ssh/sshd_config:StrictModes yes

If "StrictModes" is set to "no", is missing, or the returned line is commented out, this is a finding.

If conflicting results are returned, this is a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

2921