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V-281180

CAT II (Medium)

RHEL 10 must enforce a 24-hours minimum password lifetime restriction for passwords for new users or password changes in "/etc/login.defs".

Rule ID

SV-281180r1166492_rule

STIG

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V1R1

CCIs

CCI-004066

Discussion

Enforcing a minimum password lifetime helps to prevent repeated password changes to defeat the password reuse or history enforcement requirement. If users are allowed to immediately and continually change their password, the password could be repeatedly changed in a short period of time to defeat the organization's policy regarding password reuse. Setting the minimum password age protects against users cycling back to a favorite password after satisfying the password reuse requirement.

Check Content

Verify RHEL 10 enforces 24 hours as the minimum password lifetime for new user accounts.

Check for the value of "PASS_MIN_DAYS" in "/etc/login.defs" with the following command:

$ sudo grep -i pass_min_days /etc/login.defs
PASS_MIN_DAYS 1

If the "PASS_MIN_DAYS" parameter value is not "1" or greater or is commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure RHEL 10 to enforce 24 hours as the minimum password lifetime.

Add the following line in "/etc/login.defs" (or modify the line to have the required value):

PASS_MIN_DAYS 1