Amazon Linux 2023 must maintain an account lock until the locked account is released by an administrator.

Severity
Group ID
Group Title
Version
Rule ID
Date
STIG Version
mediumV-274157SRG-OS-000329-GPOS-00128AZLX-23-002470SV-274157r1120459_rule2025-07-151
Description
By limiting the number of failed logon attempts, the risk of unauthorized system access via user password guessing, otherwise known as brute-forcing, is reduced. Limits are imposed by locking the account.
ℹ️ Check
Verify Amazon Linux 2023 is configured to lock an account until released by an administrator after three unsuccessful logon attempts with the command: $ grep 'unlock_time =' /etc/security/faillock.conf unlock_time = 0 If the "unlock_time" option is not set to "0", the line is missing, or commented out, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Configure Amazon Linux 2023 to lock an account until released by an administrator after three unsuccessful logon attempts with the command: $ authselect enable-feature with-faillock Then edit the "/etc/security/faillock.conf" file as follows: unlock_time = 0