Cryptography to protect the integrity of remote access sessions
The telnet service must be disabled, as it sends all data, including the user's password, in a clear text form that can be easily intercepted and read. Passwords need to be protected at all times and encryption is the standard method for protecting passwords. If passwords are not encrypted, they can be plainly read (i.e., clear text) and easily compromised. Disabling telnet is one way to mitigate this risk. Authorized users should be instructed to use an alternate service that implements cryptography for remote access sessions, such as SSH.
enabled/disabled
The service 'telnet' should be disabled, to check the status of the service, run the following command:
sudo /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c 'print com.apple.telnetd:Disabled' /var/db/launchd.db/com.apple.launchd/overrides.plist
If the returned value isn't 'true' or doesn't exist, this is a finding.
AC-17 (2)
oval:org.secpod.oval:def:24682
oval:org.secpod.oval:def:24682
SCAP Repo OVAL Definition
2015-06-11