Oracle Linux 7 STIG Version Comparison

There are 11 differences between versions v2 r13 (Oct. 25, 2023) (the "left" version) and v3 r1 (Oct. 24, 2024) (the "right" version).

Check OL07-00-010270 was removed from the benchmark in the "right" version. The text below reflects the old wording.

This check's original form is available here.

Title

The Oracle Linux operating system must be configured so that passwords are prohibited from reuse for a minimum of five generations.

Check Content

Verify the operating system prohibits password reuse for a minimum of five generations. Check for the value of the "remember" argument in "/etc/pam.d/system-auth" and "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" with the following command: # grep -i remember /etc/pam.d/system-auth /etc/pam.d/password-auth password requisite pam_pwhistory.so use_authtok remember=5 retry=3 If the line containing the "pam_pwhistory.so" line does not have the "remember" module argument set, is commented out, or the value of the "remember" module argument is set to less than "5", this is a finding.

Discussion

Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. If the information system or application allows the user to reuse their password consecutively when that password has exceeded its defined lifetime, the end result is a password that is not changed per policy requirements.

Fix

Configure the operating system to prohibit password reuse for a minimum of five generations. Add the following line in "/etc/pam.d/system-auth" (or modify the line to have the required value): password requisite pam_pwhistory.so remember=5 retry=3 Add the following line in "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" (or modify the line to have the required value): password requisite pam_pwhistory.so use_authtok remember=5 retry=3 Note: Per requirement OL07-00-010199, Oracle Linux 7 must be configured to not overwrite custom authentication configuration settings while using the authconfig utility; otherwise, manual changes to the listed files will be overwritten whenever the authconfig utility is used.