Title

AIX must prevent the use of dictionary words for passwords. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

If the operating system allows the user to select passwords based on dictionary words, then this increases the chances of password compromise by increasing the opportunity for successful guesses and brute-force attacks.

Check Content

From the command prompt, run the following command to check if the default "dictionlist" attribute is set: # lssec -f /etc/security/user -s default -a dictionlist The above command should yield the following output: dictionlist="/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English" If the above command shows an empty string for default "dictionlist" attribute, this is a finding. From the command prompt, run the following command to check if "dictionlist" attribute is set for all users: # lsuser -a dictionlist ALL The above command should yield the following output: root dictionlist=/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English daemon dictionlist=/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English bin dictionlist=/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English sys dictionlist=/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English If any user's "dictionlist" attribute is empty, this is a finding.

Fix Text

From the command prompt, run the following command to set "dictionlist" attribute for the default stanza in "/etc/security/user": # chsec -f /etc/security/user -s default -a dictionlist="/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English" From the command prompt, run the following command to set "dictionlist" attribute for users who have an empty "dictionlist" attribute: # chsec -f /etc/security/user -s [user_name] -a dictionlist="/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English"

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-215229r508663_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-215229

Group Title: SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00225

Expert Comments

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