AIX must prevent the use of dictionary words for passwords.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-215229	SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00225	AIX7-00-001132	SV-215229r991587_rule	2024-08-16	3

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

ℹ️ Check
From the command prompt, run the following command to check if the default "dictionlist" attribute is set: # lssec -f /etc/security/user -s default -a dictionlist The above command should yield the following output: dictionlist="/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English" If the above command shows an empty string for default "dictionlist" attribute, this is a finding. From the command prompt, run the following command to check if "dictionlist" attribute is set for all users: # lsuser -a dictionlist ALL The above command should yield the following output: root dictionlist=/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English daemon dictionlist=/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English bin dictionlist=/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English sys dictionlist=/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English If any user's "dictionlist" attribute is empty, this is a finding.

ℹ️ Check

From the command prompt, run the following command to check if the default "dictionlist" attribute is set: # lssec -f /etc/security/user -s default -a dictionlist The above command should yield the following output: dictionlist="/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English" If the above command shows an empty string for default "dictionlist" attribute, this is a finding. From the command prompt, run the following command to check if "dictionlist" attribute is set for all users: # lsuser -a dictionlist ALL The above command should yield the following output: root dictionlist=/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English daemon dictionlist=/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English bin dictionlist=/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English sys dictionlist=/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English If any user's "dictionlist" attribute is empty, this is a finding.

✔️ Fix
From the command prompt, run the following command to set "dictionlist" attribute for the default stanza in "/etc/security/user": # chsec -f /etc/security/user -s default -a dictionlist="/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English" From the command prompt, run the following command to set "dictionlist" attribute for users who have an empty "dictionlist" attribute: # chsec -f /etc/security/user -s [user_name] -a dictionlist="/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English"

✔️ Fix

From the command prompt, run the following command to set "dictionlist" attribute for the default stanza in "/etc/security/user": # chsec -f /etc/security/user -s default -a dictionlist="/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English" From the command prompt, run the following command to set "dictionlist" attribute for users who have an empty "dictionlist" attribute: # chsec -f /etc/security/user -s [user_name] -a dictionlist="/etc/security/ice/dictionary/English"