The system must require passwords to contain at least one special character.

From Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Part of SRG-OS-000266

Associated with: CCI-001619

SV-50371r2_rule The system must require passwords to contain at least one special character.

Vulnerability discussion

Requiring a minimum number of special characters makes password guessing attacks more difficult by ensuring a larger search space.

Check content

To check how many special characters are required in a password, run the following command: $ grep pam_cracklib /etc/pam.d/system-auth /etc/pam.d/password-auth Note: The "ocredit" parameter (as a negative number) will indicate how many special characters are required. The DoD requires at least one special character in a password. This would appear as "ocredit=-1". If “ocredit” is not found or not set to the required value, this is a finding.

Fix text

The pam_cracklib module's "ocredit=" parameter controls requirements for usage of special (or "other") characters in a password. When set to a negative number, any password will be required to contain that many special characters. When set to a positive number, pam_cracklib will grant +1 additional length credit for each special character. Edit /etc/pam.d/system-auth and /etc/pam.d/password-auth adding "ocredit=-1" after pam_cracklib.so to require use of a special character in passwords.

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.

Powered by sagemincer