The AIX operating system must be configured to authenticate using Multi Factor Authentication.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-215437 | SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227 | AIX7-00-003201 | SV-215437r991589_rule | 2026-02-06 | 3 |
Description
To assure accountability and prevent unauthenticated access, privileged and non-privileged users must utilize multifactor authentication to prevent potential misuse and compromise of the system.
Multifactor authentication uses two or more factors to achieve authentication.
Factors include:
1. Something you know (e.g., password/PIN);
2. Something you have (e.g., cryptographic identification device, token); and
3. Something you are (e.g., biometric).
The DoD CAC with DoD-approved PKI is an example of multifactor authentication.
ℹ️ Check
Verify the global "auth_type" is configured to use PAM:
# grep auth_type /etc/security/login.cfg |grep AUTH
auth_type = PAM_AUTH
If "auth_type" is not set to "PAM_AUTH", this is a finding.
Verify that the user stanza is configured to use PAM:
# lssec -f /etc/security/login.cfg -susw -a auth_type
usw auth_type=PAM_AUTH
If "auth_type" is not set to "PAM_AUTH", this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Run the following command to set the global and user stanza "auth_type":
# chsec -f /etc/security/login.cfg -susw -a auth_type=PAM_AUTH