Title

The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that passwords for new users are restricted to a 24 hours/1 day minimum lifetime. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

Enforcing a minimum password lifetime helps to prevent repeated password changes to defeat the password reuse or history enforcement requirement. If users are allowed to immediately and continually change their password, the password could be repeatedly changed in a short period of time to defeat the organization's policy regarding password reuse.

Check Content

Verify the operating system enforces 24 hours/1 day as the minimum password lifetime for new user accounts. Check for the value of "PASS_MIN_DAYS" in "/etc/login.defs" with the following command: # grep -i pass_min_days /etc/login.defs PASS_MIN_DAYS 1 If the "PASS_MIN_DAYS" parameter value is not "1" or greater, or is commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the operating system to enforce 24 hours/1 day as the minimum password lifetime. Add the following line in "/etc/login.defs" (or modify the line to have the required value): PASS_MIN_DAYS 1

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-204418r603261_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-204418

Group Title: SRG-OS-000075-GPOS-00043

Expert Comments

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