Title

RHEL 8 must ensure the password complexity module is enabled in the password-auth file. (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. "pwquality" enforces complex password construction configuration and has the ability to limit brute-force attacks on the system. RHEL 8 utilizes "pwquality" as a mechanism to enforce password complexity. This is set in both: /etc/pam.d/password-auth /etc/pam.d/system-auth

Check Content

Verify the operating system uses "pwquality" to enforce the password complexity rules. Check for the use of "pwquality" in the password-auth file with the following command: $ sudo cat /etc/pam.d/password-auth | grep pam_pwquality password requisite pam_pwquality.so If the command does not return a line containing the value "pam_pwquality.so" as shown, or the line is commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the operating system to use "pwquality" to enforce password complexity rules. Add the following line to the "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" file (or modify the line to have the required value): password requisite pam_pwquality.so

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-230356r902728_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-230356

Group Title: SRG-OS-000069-GPOS-00037

Expert Comments

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