Check: RHEL-09-611060
RHEL 9 STIG:
RHEL-09-611060
(in versions v1 r3 through v1 r1)
Title
RHEL 9 must enforce password complexity rules for the root account. (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. Password complexity is one factor of several that determines how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password, the greater the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000072-GPOS-00040, SRG-OS-000071-GPOS-00039, SRG-OS-000070-GPOS-00038, SRG-OS-000266-GPOS-00101, SRG-OS-000078-GPOS-00046, SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00225, SRG-OS-000069-GPOS-00037
Check Content
Verify that RHEL 9 enforces password complexity rules for the root account. Check if root user is required to use complex passwords with the following command: $ grep enforce_for_root /etc/security/pwquality.conf /etc/security/pwquality.conf/*.conf /etc/security/pwquality.conf:enforce_for_root If "enforce_for_root" is commented or missing, this is a finding.
Fix Text
Configure RHEL 9 to enforce password complexity on the root account. Add or update the following line in /etc/security/pwquality.conf: enforce_for_root
Additional Identifiers
Rule ID: SV-258101r926290_rule
Vulnerability ID: V-258101
Group Title: SRG-OS-000072-GPOS-00040
Expert Comments
CCIs
| Number | Definition |
|---|---|
| CCI-000192 |
The information system enforces password complexity by the minimum number of upper case characters used. |
| CCI-000193 |
The information system enforces password complexity by the minimum number of lower case characters used. |
| CCI-000194 |
The information system enforces password complexity by the minimum number of numeric characters used. |
| CCI-000195 |
The information system, for password-based authentication, when new passwords are created, enforces that at least an organization-defined number of characters are changed. |
| CCI-000205 |
The information system enforces minimum password length. |
| CCI-000366 |
The organization implements the security configuration settings. |
| CCI-001619 |
The information system enforces password complexity by the minimum number of special characters used. |