Rule ID
SV-221668r1015165_rule
Version
V3R5
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. "pwquality" enforces complex password construction configuration and has the ability to limit brute-force attacks on the system. Satisfied: SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00229, SRG-OS-000069-GPOS-00037
Verify the operating system uses "pwquality" to enforce the password complexity rules.
Check for the use of "pwquality" with the following command:
# cat /etc/pam.d/system-auth | grep pam_pwquality
password requisite pam_pwquality.so retry=3
If the command does not return an uncommented line containing the value "pam_pwquality.so" as shown, this is a finding.
If the value of "retry" is set to "0" or greater than "3", this is a finding.Configure the operating system to use "pwquality" to enforce password complexity rules.
Add the following line to "/etc/pam.d/system-auth" (or modify the line to have the required value):
password requisite pam_pwquality.so retry=3
Note: The value of "retry" should be between "1" and "3".