STIGQter: STIG Summary: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide Version: 1 Release: 2 Benchmark Date: 01 Jul 2026:

RHEL 10 must force a frequent session key renegotiation for Secure Shell (SSH) connections to the server.

DISA Rule

SV-281268r1184768_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-281268

Group Title

SRG-OS-000423-GPOS-00187

Rule Version

RHEL-10-700650

Severity

CAT I

CCI(s)

• CCI-002418 - Protect the confidentiality and/or integrity of transmitted information.
• CCI-000068 - Implement cryptographic mechanisms to protect the confidentiality of remote access sessions.
• CCI-002421 - Implement cryptographic mechanisms to prevent unauthorized disclosure of information and/or detect changes to information during transmission.

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

Configure RHEL 10 to force a frequent session key renegotiation for SSH connections to the server.

In "/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d", create a drop file that will lexicographically precede 50-redhat.conf and add the following line:

RekeyLimit 1G 1h

Restart the SSH daemon with the following command for the settings to take effect:

$ sudo systemctl restart sshd.service

Check Contents

Verify RHEL 10 SSH servers are configured to force frequent session key renegotiation 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*rekeylimit'
/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/10-stig.conf:RekeyLimit 1G 1h

Verify the runtime setting with the following command:

$ sudo sshd -T | grep -i rekeylimit
rekeylimit 1073741824 3600

If the "RekeyLimit" keyword is not set to "1G 1h" in a drop-in that lexicographically precedes 50-redhat.conf, or if no output is returned, this is a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-281268

Documentable

False

Rule Version

RHEL-10-700650

Severity Override Guidance

Verify RHEL 10 SSH servers are configured to force frequent session key renegotiation 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*rekeylimit'
/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/10-stig.conf:RekeyLimit 1G 1h

Verify the runtime setting with the following command:

$ sudo sshd -T | grep -i rekeylimit
rekeylimit 1073741824 3600

If the "RekeyLimit" keyword is not set to "1G 1h" in a drop-in that lexicographically precedes 50-redhat.conf, or if no output is returned, this is a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

5733