SLES-15-020170 - The SUSE operating system must configure the Linux Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) to only store encrypted representations of passwords - PAM to only store encrypted representations of passwords.

Information

Passwords need to be protected at all times, and encryption is the standard method for protecting passwords. If passwords are not encrypted, they can be plainly read (i.e., clear text) and easily compromised.

Solution

Configure the SUSE operating system Linux PAM to only store encrypted representations of passwords. All account passwords must be hashed with SHA512 encryption strength.

Edit '/etc/pam.d/common-password' and edit the line containing 'pam_unix.so' to contain the SHA512 keyword after third column. Remove the 'nullok' option.

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_SLES_15_V2R1_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

References: 800-53|IA-5(1)(d), CAT|II, CCI|CCI-004062, Rule-ID|SV-234886r986482_rule, STIG-ID|SLES-15-020170, Vuln-ID|V-234886

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 57ad33eb2cd6919ac0a95ce0529525cc2c0343b632d171a099b437fb377b6e5a