rkhunter warning about ssh root access when that access is not allowed on the system

Question

I just ran rkhunter --check and all was good except this:

Checking if SSH root access is allowed                   [ Warning]

What does this warning mean? SSH root access is not allowed on this system.

EDIT #1

Here is how my /etc/ssh/sshd_config is set:

PermitRootLogin no

and rkhunter.conf

root ~ # cat /etc/rkhunter.conf | grep  ALLOW_SSH_ROOT_USER
#ALLOW_SSH_ROOT_USER=no
ALLOW_SSH_ROOT_USER=unset

Solution 1

The following values need to match:

1. In rkhunter configuration:

   cat /etc/rkhunter.conf | grep ALLOW_SSH_ROOT_USER
   

   ALLOW_SSH_ROOT_USER=no
   

2. In sshd configuration:

   cat /etc/ssh/sshd_config | grep PermitRootLogin
   

   PermitRootLogin no
   

Once they do match, you should not be warned by rkhunter any longer.

Solution 2

In case you have set in your /etc/ssh/sshd_config

PermitRootLogin without-password

Again in the /etc/rkhunter.conf the value must match, as in the following example:

ALLOW_SSH_ROOT_USER=without-password

Comments

[Joshua Lokken]

Yes, thank you for the edit! Still getting used to the editor.

[lepe]

Everywhere I read, it is specified that (in case of Ubuntu), you should write: ALLOW_SSH_ROOT_USER=yes, but that doesn't work. This answer solves it! Thanks!