The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that when passwords are changed or new passwords are established, pwquality must be used.

From Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Associated with: CCI-000192

SV-87811r4_rule The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that when passwords are changed or new passwords are established, pwquality must be used.

Vulnerability discussion

Use of a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. "pwquality" enforces complex password construction configuration and has the ability to limit brute-force attacks on the system.

Check content

Verify the operating system uses "pwquality" to enforce the password complexity rules. Check for the use of "pwquality" with the following command: # cat /etc/pam.d/system-auth | grep pam_pwquality password required pam_pwquality.so retry=3 If the command does not return an uncommented line containing the value "pam_pwquality.so", this is a finding. If the value of "retry" is set to "0" or greater than "3", this is a finding.

Fix text

Configure the operating system to use "pwquality" to enforce password complexity rules. Add the following line to "/etc/pam.d/system-auth" (or modify the line to have the required value): password required pam_pwquality.so retry=3 Note: The value of "retry" should be between "1" and "3".

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