Title

The operating system must enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one special character be used. (Cat II impact)

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. Password complexity is one factor in determining how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password, 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

Verify the operating system enforces password complexity by requiring that at least one special character be used. If it does not, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the operating system to enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one special character be used.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-203676r379249_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-203676

Group Title: SRG-OS-000266

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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