SSH-7412 - SSH permit root login

This information is provided as part of the Lynis community project. It is related to Lynis control SSH-7412 and should be considered as-is and without guarantees. Any advice and commands should be tested before implementing them in production environments.

Control details
CategorySSH
ApplicationOpenSSH

Description

For proper authorization purposes, do not use direct root logins. Doing so, may result in actions being performed by administrators without any traceability. Also using root permissions directly might increase the risk of intrusion or availability. (e.g. brute force attacks on the password, account lockout)Unless the owner of each key is traceable, public key authentication can be considered.

How to solve

Disable direct root login via the shell script. Option 1: Implement sudo Option 2: Implement public key authentication with proper traceability.

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