STIGQter: STIG Summary: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide Version: 2 Release: 9 Benchmark Date: 01 Jul 2026:

RHEL 9 must not allow users to override SSH environment variables.

DISA Rule

SV-257993r1045049_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-257993

Group Title

SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00229

Rule Version

RHEL-09-255085

Severity

CAT II

CCI(s)

• CCI-000366 - Implement the security configuration settings.

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

Configure the RHEL 9 SSH daemon to not allow unattended or automatic logon to the system by editing the following line in the "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" or in a file in "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d":

PermitUserEnvironment no

Restart the SSH daemon for the setting to take effect:

$ sudo systemctl restart sshd.service

Check Contents

Verify that unattended or automatic logon via SSH is disabled 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*permituserenvironment'

PermitUserEnvironment no

If "PermitUserEnvironment" is set to "yes", is missing completely, or is commented out, this is a finding.

If the required value is not set, this is a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-257993

Documentable

False

Rule Version

RHEL-09-255085

Severity Override Guidance

Verify that unattended or automatic logon via SSH is disabled 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*permituserenvironment'

PermitUserEnvironment no

If "PermitUserEnvironment" is set to "yes", is missing completely, or is commented out, this is a finding.

If the required value is not set, this is a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

5551