Title

CA-ACF2 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

From an ACF command screen enter: SET CONTROL(GSO) LIST PSWD If PSWDPLST is coded as defined in CA ACF2 for z/OS Administration Guide, this is not a finding.

Fix Text

Configure Password option PSWDPLST as defined in CA ACF2 for z/OS Administration Guide.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-223500r695424_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-223500

Group Title: SRG-OS-000266-GPOS-00101

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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