Check: PHTN-67-000031
VMware vSphere 6.7 Photon OS STIG:
PHTN-67-000031
(in versions v1 r6 through v1 r5)
Title
The Photon operating system must enforce a minimum eight-character password length. (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 exponentially increase the time and/or resources required to compromise the password.
Check Content
At the command line, execute the following command: # grep pam_cracklib /etc/pam.d/system-password|grep --color=always "minlen=.." Expected result: password requisite pam_cracklib.so dcredit=-1 ucredit=-1 lcredit=-1 ocredit=-1 minlen=8 minclass=4 difok=4 retry=3 maxsequence=0 enforce_for_root If the output does not match the expected result, this is a finding. NOTE: After the fix is implemented, the check will not pass until either a reboot is performed or both files are modified, which happens automatically on reboot.
Fix Text
Open /etc/applmgmt/appliance/system-password with a text editor. Comment out any existing "pam_cracklib.so" line and add the following: password requisite pam_cracklib.so dcredit=-1 ucredit=-1 lcredit=-1 ocredit=-1 minlen=8 minclass=4 difok=4 retry=3 maxsequence=0 enforce_for_root Save and close.
Additional Identifiers
Rule ID: SV-239103r863028_rule
Vulnerability ID: V-239103
Group Title: SRG-OS-000078-GPOS-00046
Expert Comments
CCIs
Number | Definition |
---|---|
CCI-000205 |
The information system enforces minimum password length. |
Controls
Number | Title |
---|---|
IA-5 (1) |
Password-Based Authentication |