VMware vSphere 7.0 vCenter Appliance Photon OS Security Technical Implementation Guide

The VMware vSphere 7.0 vCenter Appliance Photon OS Security Technical Implementation Guide (V1 R5) has 113 STIG checks. New to STIG checklists? Read What is a STIG checklist?, CKL vs CKLB, and STIG vs SCAP benchmark.

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Severity

Version

V1 · R5

CurrentPublished Wed Sep 30 2026 What changed in V1R5

The Photon operating system must configure sshd to limit the number of allowed login attempts per connection.

VMware vSphere 7.0 vCenter Appliance Photon OS Security Technical Implementation Guide

Assessment Title

Rule Text

The Photon operating system must configure sshd to limit the number of allowed login attempts per connection.

Description

Discussion Text

By setting the login attempt limit to a low value, an attacker will be forced to reconnect frequently, which severely limits the speed and effectiveness of brute-force attacks.

New to STIG checklists? Read What is a STIG checklist? and CKL vs CKLB.

Objective

V-256557

Rule

SV-256557r1268251_rule

Severity

medium

Rule Version

PHTN-30-000088

Documentable

false

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Rev 5

Assessment Procedure

Check Text

At the command line, run the following command:

# sshd -T|&grep -i MaxAuthTries

Expected result:

MaxAuthTries 6

If the output does not match the expected result, this is a finding.

Implementation Procedure

Fix Text

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

STIG check 80 of 113 in the VMware vSphere 7.0 vCenter Appliance Photon OS STIG checklist

← Previous · V-256556The Photon operating system must configure sshd to ignore user-specific "known_host" files.Next · V-256558 →The Photon operating system must be configured so the x86 Ctrl-Alt-Delete key sequence is disabled on the command line.