Title

AAA Services must be configured to enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one special character be used. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Use of a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. The more complex the password is, the greater the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. Special characters are those characters that are not alphanumeric. Examples include: ~ ! @ # $ % ^ *.

Check Content

If AAA Services rely on directory services for user account management, this is not applicable and the connected directory services must perform this function. Where passwords (to include randomly assigned passwords, shared secrets, and pre-shared keys) are used, verify AAA Services are configured to enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one special character be used. This requirement may be verified by demonstration or configuration review. If AAA Services are not configured to require that at least one special character be used, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure AAA Services to enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one special character be used. This includes randomly assigned passwords, shared secrets, and pre-shared keys.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-204669r981563_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-204669

Group Title: SRG-APP-000169

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

Controls tied to check. These are derived from the CCIs shown above.