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← Back to Nutanix AOS 5.20.x OS Security Technical Implementation Guide

V-254222

CAT I (High)

Nutanix AOS pam_unix.so module must be configured in the password-auth file to use a FIPS 140-2 approved cryptographic hashing algorithm for system authentication.

Rule ID

SV-254222r971535_rule

STIG

Nutanix AOS 5.20.x OS Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V1R2

CCIs

CCI-000803

Discussion

Unapproved mechanisms used for authentication to the cryptographic module are not verified and therefore, cannot be relied upon to provide confidentiality or integrity, and DoD data may be compromised. Operating systems utilizing encryption are required to use FIPS-compliant mechanisms for authenticating to cryptographic modules. FIPS 140-2 is the current standard for validating that mechanisms used to access cryptographic modules utilize authentication that meets DoD requirements. This allows for Security Levels 1, 2, 3, or 4 for use on a general purpose computing system.

Check Content

Verify that the pam_unix.so module is configured to use SHA512.

$ sudo grep password /etc/pam.d/password-auth | grep pam_unix
password    sufficient    pam_unix.so sha512 shadow try_first_pass use_authtok

$ sudo grep password /etc/pam.d/system-auth | grep pam_unix
password    sufficient    pam_unix.so sha512 shadow try_first_pass use_authtok

If "sha512" is not an option in both outputs, or is commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the pam.d modules to comply with FIPS 140-2:

1. Enable high-strength passwords:
$ ncli cluster edit-cvm-security-params enable-high-strength-password=true

2. After enabling the high-strength passwords, the system will process the salt stack to enable the DoD versions of the pam.d files. Recheck the Check Text for compliance.  

To run the salt command manually to enable the pam.d auth files, run the following command (high-strength passwords must be set to true):
$ sudo salt-call state.sls security/CVM/pamCVM