V-217355

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 needs to be tested before the password is compromised. Typically, the account of last resort is a built-in account with full privileges to the network device. This account should only be used when the authentication mechanism is unreachable and configuration or maintenance actions must be taken.

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Review the Arista Multilayer Switch configuration for the account of last resort with full access to the network device.

If the account of last resort does not require a password length of at least 15 characters, this is a finding.

To verify the setting is correct, run the "show running-config" command on the switch. Under the section "management security", the configuration statement "password minimum length 15" must be present, with a value set to 15 or higher.