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V-281214

CAT II (Medium)

RHEL 10 must ensure the password complexity module is enabled in the "password-auth" file.

Rule ID

SV-281214r1166594_rule

STIG

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V1R1

CCIs

CCI-004066

Discussion

Enabling Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM) password complexity permits enforcement of strong passwords and consequently makes the system less prone to dictionary attacks. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000069-GPOS-00037, SRG-OS-000070-GPOS-00038

Check Content

Verify RHEL 10 uses "pwquality" to enforce the password complexity rules in the "password-auth" file with the following command:

$ sudo grep pam_pwquality /etc/pam.d/password-auth
password required pam_pwquality.so

If the command does not return a line containing the value "pam_pwquality.so", or the line is commented out, this is a finding.

If the system administrator can demonstrate that the required configuration is contained in a PAM configuration file included or substacked from the "system-auth" file, this is not a finding.

Fix Text

Configure RHEL 10 to use "pwquality" to enforce password complexity rules.

Add the following line to the "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" file (or modify the line to have the required value):

password required pam_pwquality.so