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V-282618

CAT II (Medium)

TOSS 5 must prevent the use of dictionary words for passwords.

Rule ID

SV-282618r1200834_rule

STIG

Tri-Lab Operating System Stack (TOSS) 5 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V1R1

CCIs

CCI-000366

Discussion

Using 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. If TOSS 5 allows the user to select passwords based on dictionary words, this increases the chances of password compromise by increasing the opportunity for successful guesses, and brute-force attacks.

Check Content

Verify TOSS 5 prevents using dictionary words for passwords using the following command:

$ sudo grep dictcheck /etc/security/pwquality.conf /etc/pwquality.conf.d/*.conf 

/etc/security/pwquality.conf:dictcheck=1 

If "dictcheck" does not have a value other than "0" or is commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure TOSS 5 to prevent the use of dictionary words for passwords.

Add or update the following line in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" file or a configuration file in the /etc/pwquality.conf.d/ directory to contain the "dictcheck" parameter:

dictcheck=1