PHTN-30-000071 - The Photon operating system must use the 'pam_cracklib' module.

Information

If the operating system allows the user to select passwords based on dictionary words, this increases the chances of password compromise by increasing the opportunity for successful guesses and brute-force attacks.

Solution

Navigate to and open:

/etc/pam.d/system-password

Add the following, replacing any existing 'pam_cracklib.so' line:

password requisite pam_cracklib.so dcredit=-1 ucredit=-1 lcredit=-1 ocredit=-1 minlen=8 minclass=4 difok=4 retry=3 maxsequence=0 enforce_for_root

Note: On vCenter appliances, the equivalent file must be edited under '/etc/applmgmt/appliance', if one exists, for the changes to persist after a reboot.

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_VMW_vSphere_7-0_Y24M01_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

References: 800-53|CM-6b., CAT|II, CCI|CCI-000366, Rule-ID|SV-256541r887297_rule, STIG-ID|PHTN-30-000071, Vuln-ID|V-256541

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: f5d2916284434746598c169c2dbc1c38b553972af8d3a35aad37a053d3d65f2e