AlmaLinux OS 9 must require the change of at least eight characters when passwords are changed.

Use of a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password complexity is one factor of several that determines how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password, the greater the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised.

Verify that AlmaLinux OS 9 enforces password complexity by requiring at least eight characters differ when passwords are changed with the following command: $ grep -r difok /etc/security/pwquality.conf* /etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/stig.conf:difok = 8 If the value of "difok" is less than "8", is not set, is commented out, or if conflicting results are returned, this is a finding.

Configure AlmaLinux OS 9 to require the change of at least eight of the total number of characters when passwords are changed by setting the "difok" option. Add or update the following line in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" file or a configuration file in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/" directory: difok = 8 Remove any configurations that conflict with the above value.