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← Back to IBM AIX 7.x Security Technical Implementation Guide

V-215217

CAT I (High)

AIX must enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one upper-case character be used.

Rule ID

SV-215217r1009535_rule

STIG

IBM AIX 7.x Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V3R2

CCIs

CCI-004066CCI-000192

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 need to be tested before the password is compromised.

Check Content

From the command prompt, run the following command to check the system default "minupperalpha" attribute value:
# lssec -f /etc/security/user -s default -a minupperalpha

The above command should yield the following output:
default minupperalpha=1

If the default "minupperalpha" value is not set, or its value is less than "1", this is a finding.

From the command prompt, run the following command to check "minupperalpha" attribute value for all accounts:
# lsuser -a minupperalpha ALL

The above command should yield the following output:
root minupperalpha=2
user2 minupperalpha=2
user3 minupperalpha=1

If any user's "minupperalpha" value is less than "1", this is a finding.

Fix Text

From the command prompt, run the following command to set "minupperalpha=1" for the default stanza in "/etc/security/user":
# chsec -f /etc/security/user -s default -a minupperalpha=1

For each user who has "minupperalpha=0", set its "minupperalpha" to "1" by running the following command from command prompt:
# chsec -f /etc/security/user -s [user_name] -a minupperalpha=1