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

From Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Associated with: CCI-000194

SV-50282r1_rule The system must require passwords to contain at least one numeric character.

Vulnerability discussion

Requiring digits makes password guessing attacks more difficult by ensuring a larger search space.

Check content

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

Fix text

The pam_cracklib module's "dcredit" parameter controls requirements for usage of digits in a password. When set to a negative number, any password will be required to contain that many digits. When set to a positive number, pam_cracklib will grant +1 additional length credit for each digit. Add "dcredit=-1" after pam_cracklib.so to require use of a digit in passwords.

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