Passwords must have a minimum of 15-characters.

From Canonical Ubuntu 16.04 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Associated with: CCI-000205

SV-90157r3_rule Passwords must have a minimum of 15-characters.

Vulnerability discussion

The shorter the password, the lower the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised.Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password length is one factor of several that helps to determine strength and how long it takes to crack a password. Use of more characters in a password helps to exponentially increase the time and/or resources required to compromise the password.

Check content

Verify that the Ubuntu operating system enforces a minimum "15" character password length. Determine if the field "minlen" is set in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" or "/etc/pwquality.conf.d/*.conf" files with the following command: # grep -i minlen /etc/security/pwquality.conf /etc/pwquality.conf.d/*.conf minlen=15 If "minlen" parameter value is not "15" or higher, or is commented out, this is a finding.

Fix text

Configure the Ubuntu operating system to enforce a minimum 15-character password length. Add or update the following line in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" file or a configuration file in the /etc/pwquality.conf.d/ directory to contain the "minlen" parameter: minlen=15

Pro Tips

Lavender hyperlinks in small type off to the right (of CSS class id, if you view the page source) point to globally unique URIs for each document and item. Copy the link location and paste anywhere you need to talk unambiguously about these things.

You can obtain data about documents and items in other formats. Simply provide an HTTP header Accept: text/turtle or Accept: application/rdf+xml.