Harden the secure shell server configuration

Where possible, all
VMware
appliances have a default hardened configuration. Users can verify that their configuration is appropriately hardened by examining the server and client service settings in the global options section of the configuration file.
Open the
/etc/ssh/sshd_config
server configuration file on the
VMware
appliance, and verify that the settings are correct.
Setting
Setting Value in
sshd_config
Client Gateway Ports
GatewayPorts no
GSSAPI Authentication
GSSAPIAuthentication no
CBC Ciphers
Ciphers aes256-gcm@openssh.com,aes128-gcm@openssh.com,aes256-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes128-ctr
Message Authentication Codes
MACs hmac-sha2-512-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha1-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha1
Sample
ssh_config
File
# $OpenBSD: ssh_config,v 1.30 2016/02/20 23:06:23 sobrado Exp $ # This is the ssh client system-wide configuration file. See # ssh_config(5) for more information. This file provides defaults for # users, and the values can be changed in per-user configuration files # or on the command line. # Configuration data is parsed as follows: # 1. command line options # 2. user-specific file # 3. system-wide file # Any configuration value is only changed the first time it is set. # Thus, host-specific definitions should be at the beginning of the # configuration file, and defaults at the end. # Site-wide defaults for some commonly used options. For a comprehensive # list of available options, their meanings and defaults, please see the # ssh_config(5) man page. # Host * # ForwardAgent no # ForwardX11 no # RhostsRSAAuthentication no # RSAAuthentication yes # PasswordAuthentication yes # HostbasedAuthentication no # GSSAPIAuthentication no # GSSAPIDelegateCredentials no # BatchMode no # CheckHostIP yes # AddressFamily any # ConnectTimeout 0 # StrictHostKeyChecking ask # IdentityFile ~/.ssh/identity # IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa # IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_dsa # IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ecdsa # IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 # Port 22 # FipsMode no # Protocol 2 # Cipher 3des # Ciphers aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,arcfour256,arcfour128,aes128-cbc,3des-cbc # MACs hmac-md5,hmac-sha1,umac-64@openssh.com,hmac-ripemd160 # EscapeChar ~ # Tunnel no # TunnelDevice any:any # PermitLocalCommand no # VisualHostKey no # ProxyCommand ssh -q -W %h:%p gateway.example.com # RekeyLimit 1G 1h Ciphers aes256-gcm@openssh.com,aes128-gcm@openssh.com,aes256-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes128-ctr MACs hmac-sha2-512-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-256-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha1-etm@openssh.com,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha1 GatewayPorts no GSSAPIAuthentication no