Gaia SSH server allows weak settings
At a glance
Base severity
Area
Platform
Evidence level
Benchmark reference
Reads the export, not the device
ConfigProof reads a configuration export. This control is evaluated against the objects in that file, and it reports what the file says. It does not connect to the device and sees no traffic, so a finding here describes the configuration, not what the firewall is doing right now.
Why it matters
Root login over SSH and weak ciphers or MAC algorithms make the administrative channel easier to attack and harder to attribute.
How to fix it
Web interface
The steps below are written for the web interface. A finding raised on your own export carries the same steps with your object names filled in.
- In the Gaia Portal, open System Management > SSH Server Settings and turn off root login and the weak ciphers, MAC algorithms and key exchange algorithms.
- Run save config in clish, or the change is lost at the next reboot.
Command line
Check Point mgmt_cli and Gaia clish
set ssh server permit-root-login noset ssh server enable-weak-ciphers offset ssh server enable-weak-mac-algorithms offsave config
An example. Values in angle brackets are yours to supply; a finding on your own export fills in the names it read. Nothing here installs a policy. Publish, review, then install the policy on your gateways yourself; Gaia changes need save config.
Read it back
show ssh serverBefore you type it2
- Written from the Check Point Management API reference and Gaia clish syntax, not yet run on a device. Read each line before typing it.
- Type in clish on each Gaia gateway or cluster member.
How to confirm the fix
- Confirm administrators can still connect with their SSH clients after the change.
Limits
- No limitation is recorded for this control beyond the one that applies to all of them: it reads a configuration export.
Compliance references
No benchmark recommendation is mapped to this control in this version.
More in Administrators and Access
- CKP-MGT-003Expired administrator account still present
- CKP-MGT-004Super User signs in with a local password
- CKP-MGT-007Internal user passwords may be shorter than 12 characters
- CKP-MGT-005Gaia accepts administration from any host
- CKP-MGT-017Gaia CLI session never times out or times out after more than 10 minutes
- CKP-MGT-018Gaia Portal session times out after more than 10 minutes
- CKP-MGT-031Gaia minimum password length below 14
- CKP-MGT-021Gaia allows palindrome passwords
See it on your own firewall
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