Title

TOSS must enforce the limit of five consecutive invalid logon attempts by a user during a 15-minute time period. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

By limiting the number of failed logon attempts, the risk of unauthorized system access via user password guessing, otherwise known as brute-force attacks, is reduced. Limits are imposed by locking the account.

Check Content

Verify the "/etc/security/faillock.conf" file is configured to lock an account after three unsuccessful logon attempts within 15 minutes: $ sudo grep -e "deny =" -e "fail_interval =" /etc/security/faillock.conf deny = 3 fail_interval = 900 If the "deny" option is set to "0", more than "3", is missing, or is commented out, this is a finding. If the "fail_interval" option is set to less than "900", is missing, or is commented out, this is a finding. Note: If the System Administrator demonstrates the use of an approved centralized account management method that locks an account after three unsuccessful logon attempts within a period of 15 minutes, this requirement is Not Applicable.

Fix Text

Configure the operating system to lock an account when three unsuccessful logon attempts occur in 15 minutes. Add/Modify the "/etc/security/faillock.conf" file to match the following lines: deny = 3 fail_interval = 900

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-252946r958388_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-252946

Group Title: SRG-OS-000021-GPOS-00005

Expert Comments

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