Title

The system must require at least eight characters be changed between the old and new passwords during a password change. (Cat III impact)

Discussion

Requiring a minimum number of different characters during password changes ensures that newly changed passwords should not resemble previously compromised ones. Note that passwords which are changed on compromised systems will still be compromised, however.

Check Content

To check how many characters must differ during a password change, run the following command: $ grep pam_cracklib /etc/pam.d/system-auth /etc/pam.d/password-auth Note: The "difok" parameter will indicate how many characters must differ. The DoD requires eight characters differ during a password change. This would appear as "difok=8". If “difok” is not found or is set to a value less than “8”, this is a finding.

Fix Text

The pam_cracklib module's "difok" parameter controls requirements for usage of different characters during a password change. Edit /etc/pam.d/system-auth and /etc/pam.d/password-auth adding "difok=[NUM]" after pam_cracklib.so to require differing characters when changing passwords, substituting [NUM] appropriately. The DoD requirement is 8.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-217896r603264_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-217896

Group Title: SRG-OS-000072

Expert Comments

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