Rule ID
SV-271613r1091551_rule
Version
V1R5
CCIs
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. Requiring a minimum number of uppercase characters makes password guessing attacks more difficult by ensuring a larger search space.
Verify that OL 9 enforces password complexity by requiring at least one uppercase character. Check the value for "ucredit" with the following command: $ grep ucredit /etc/security/pwquality.conf /etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/*.conf ucredit = -1 If the value of "ucredit" is a positive number or is commented out, this is a finding.
Configure OL 9 to enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one uppercase character is used by setting the "ucredit" option. Add the following line to /etc/security/pwquality.conf (or modify the line to have the required value): ucredit = -1