AlmaLinux OS 9 must automatically lock an account when three unsuccessful logon attempts occur during a 15-minute time period.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-269149 | SRG-OS-000021-GPOS-00005 | ALMA-09-007720 | SV-269149r1184091_rule | 2026-02-27 | 1 |
Description
By limiting the number of failed logon attempts, the risk of unauthorized system access via user password guessing, otherwise known as brute-force attacks, is reduced. Limits are imposed by locking the account.
ℹ️ Check
Verify AlmaLinux OS 9 locks an account after three unsuccessful logon attempts within a period of 15 minutes with the following command:
$ grep fail_interval /etc/security/faillock.conf
fail_interval = 900
If the "fail_interval" option is not set to 900 or less (but not 0), the line is commented out, or the line is missing, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Configure AlmaLinux OS 9 to lock an account after a number of incorrect login attempts within 15 minutes using pam_faillock.
First, enable the feature using the following command:
$ authselect enable-feature with-faillock
Then, add or uncomment the following line in the "/etc/security/faillock.conf" file:
fail_interval = 900