VCWN-06-000039 - Passwords must be at least 15 characters in 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. The shorter the password, the lower the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. Use of more characters in a password helps to exponentially increase the time and/or resources required to compromise the password.

NOTE: Nessus has not performed this check. Please review the benchmark to ensure target compliance.

Solution

From the vSphere Web Client go to Administration >> Single Sign-On >> Configuration >> Policies >> Password Policy. Click Edit. Set the Minimum Length to 15 and click OK.

See Also

http://iasecontent.disa.mil/stigs/zip/U_VMware_vSphere_6-0_vCenter_Server_for_Windows_V1R4_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

References: 800-53|IA-5(1)(a), CAT|II, CCI|CCI-000205, Group-ID|V-64015, Rule-ID|SV-78505r1_rule, STIG-ID|VCWN-06-000039, Vuln-ID|V-64015

Plugin: VMware

Control ID: 368978f7414e40b0f35ec45c2c77a9d5b5c233e9b82c8a82066b885a8d348569