Limit SSH maximum authentication attempts

Description

The SSH daemon must limit the number of authentication attempts permitted per connection. MaxAuthTries restricts how many times a client can attempt to authenticate before the connection is dropped, reducing the effectiveness of brute-force attacks.

Rationale

Without a limit on authentication attempts, an attacker can make an unlimited number of password guesses within a single SSH connection. Setting MaxAuthTries to 4 or fewer forces the attacker to establish a new connection for each set of attempts, making brute-force attacks slower and more detectable by intrusion detection systems.

Framework references

Live verification