STIGQter: STIG Summary: VMware vSphere 8.0 vCenter Appliance Photon OS 4.0 Security Technical Implementation Guide Version: 2 Release: 2 Benchmark Date: 01 Jul 2026:

The Photon operating system must configure Secure Shell (SSH) to limit the number of allowed login attempts per connection.

DISA Rule

SV-258882r991589_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-258882

Group Title

SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227

Rule Version

PHTN-40-000219

Severity

CAT II

CCI(s)

• CCI-000366 - Implement the security configuration settings.

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

Navigate to and open:

/etc/ssh/sshd_config

Ensure the "MaxAuthTries" line is uncommented and set to the following:

MaxAuthTries 6

At the command line, run the following command:

# systemctl restart sshd.service

Check Contents

At the command line, run the following command to verify the running configuration of sshd:

# sshd -T|&grep -i MaxAuthTries

Example result:

maxauthtries 6

If "MaxAuthTries" is not set to "6", this is a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-258882

Documentable

False

Rule Version

PHTN-40-000219

Severity Override Guidance

At the command line, run the following command to verify the running configuration of sshd:

# sshd -T|&grep -i MaxAuthTries

Example result:

maxauthtries 6

If "MaxAuthTries" is not set to "6", this is a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

5569