Title

RHEL 8 passwords for new users must have a minimum of 15 characters. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

The shorter the password, the lower the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password length is one factor of several that helps to determine strength and how long it takes to crack a password. Use of more characters in a password helps to increase exponentially the time and/or resources required to compromise the password. The DoD minimum password requirement is 15 characters.

Check Content

Verify that RHEL 8 enforces a minimum 15-character password length for new user accounts by running the following command: $ sudo grep -i pass_min_len /etc/login.defs PASS_MIN_LEN 15 If the "PASS_MIN_LEN" parameter value is less than "15", or commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure operating system to enforce a minimum 15-character password length for new user accounts. Add, or modify the following line in the "/etc/login.defs" file: PASS_MIN_LEN 15

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-230370r1017182_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-230370

Group Title: SRG-OS-000078-GPOS-00046

Expert Comments

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