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V-217136

CAT II (Medium)

The SUSE operating system must disable account identifiers (individuals, groups, roles, and devices) after 35 days of inactivity after password expiration.

Rule ID

SV-217136r1015219_rule

STIG

SLES 12 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V3R2

CCIs

V-77127

Discussion

Inactive identifiers pose a risk to systems and applications because attackers may exploit an inactive identifier and potentially obtain undetected access to the system. Owners of inactive accounts will not notice if unauthorized access to their user account has been obtained. The SUSE operating system needs to track periods of inactivity and disable application identifiers after 35 days of inactivity.

Check Content

Verify the SUSE operating system disables account identifiers after 35 days of inactivity since the password expiration

Check the account inactivity value by performing the following command:

# sudo grep -i inactive /etc/default/useradd

INACTIVE=35

If "INACTIVE" is not set to a value greater than "0" and less than or equal to "35", this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the SUSE operating system to disable account identifiers after 35 days of inactivity since the password expiration. 

Run the following command to change the configuration for "useradd" to disable the account identifier after 35 days:

# sudo useradd -D -f 35

DOD recommendation is 35 days, but a lower value greater than "0" is acceptable.