UBTU-22-611035 - Ubuntu 22.04 LTS must enforce a minimum 15-character password length.

Information

The shorter the password, the lower the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised.

Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password length is one factor of several that helps to determine strength and how long it takes to crack a password. Use of more characters in a password helps to exponentially increase the time and/or resources required to compromise the password.

Solution

Configure Ubuntu 22.04 LTS to enforce a minimum 15-character password length.

Add or modify the following line in the '/etc/security/pwquality.conf' file:

minlen = 15

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_CAN_Ubuntu_22-04_LTS_V2R1_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

References: 800-53|IA-5(1)(a), CAT|II, CCI|CCI-004066, Rule-ID|SV-260565r986289_rule, STIG-ID|UBTU-22-611035, Vuln-ID|V-260565

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 3dfee1f3f6b62def3544b40f6df593f7dad15057c5253af7d431053e890fac93