Root passwords must never be passed over a network in clear text form.

From AIX 6.1 SECURITY TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE

Associated with IA controls: IAIA-2, IAIA-1

Associated with: CCI-000197

SV-39097r1_rule Root passwords must never be passed over a network in clear text form.

Vulnerability discussion

If a user accesses the root account (or any account) using an unencrypted connection, the password is passed over the network in clear text form and is subject to interception and misuse. This is true even if recommended procedures are followed by logging on to a named account and using the su command to access root.

Check content

Determine if root has logged in over an unencrypted network connection. First, determine if root has logged in over a network. Procedure: # last | grep "^root " | egrep -v "reboot|console" | more Next, determine if the SSH daemon is running. Procedure: # ps -ef |grep sshd If root has logged in over the network and SSHD is not running, this is a finding.

Fix text

Install OpenSSH from AIX installation media or AIX Expansion Pack. #smitty installp Enable SSH on the system and use it for all remote connections used to attain root access. Disable direct root login. # chsec -f /etc/security/user -s root -a rlogin=false

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