Title

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS must enforce a minimum 15-character password length. (Cat II impact)

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. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000078-GPOS-00046, SRG-OS-000730-GPOS-00190

Check Content

Verify the pwquality configuration file enforces a minimum 15-character password length with the following command: $ grep -i minlen /etc/security/pwquality.conf minlen=15 If "minlen" parameter value is not "15" or higher, is commented out, or is missing, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure Ubuntu 24.04 LTS to enforce a minimum 15-character password length. Add or modify the "minlen" parameter value to the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" file: minlen=15

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-270732r1066685_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-270732

Group Title: SRG-OS-000078-GPOS-00046

Expert Comments

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