← Back to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide

V-281188

CAT II (Medium)

RHEL 10 must require that the maximum number of repeating characters be limited to three when passwords are changed.

Rule ID

SV-281188r1195439_rule

STIG

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V1R1

CCIs

CCI-004066

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 a password is, the greater the number of possible combinations that must be tested before the password is compromised.

Check Content

Verify RHEL 10 limits the value of the "maxrepeat" option in "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" with the following command:

$ sudo grep -s maxrepeat /etc/security/pwquality.conf /etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/*.conf
/etc/security/pwquality.conf:maxrepeat = 3

If the value of "maxrepeat" is set to more than "3" or is commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure RHEL 10 to require the change of the number of repeating consecutive characters when passwords are changed by setting the "maxrepeat" option.

Add or update the following line in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" file or a configuration file in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/" directory to contain the "maxrepeat" parameter:

maxrepeat = 3