STIGUI
V-215439CAT II — Medium severitySV-215439r1268332_rule

AIX must have the have the PowerSC Multi Factor Authentication Product configured.

Rule version AIX7-00-003203 · STIG v3 · 2026-08-31

Discussion

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 DoW CAC with DoW-approved PKI is an example of multifactor authentication.

Check

Verify /etc/security/pmfa/pam_pmfa.conf is configured correctly.

# grep -i "trustedcas" /etc/security/pmfa/pam_pmfa.conf | grep -v '#'

TRUSTEDCAS = /<path_to_file>/server_ca.pem

Note: Verify with the SA/ISSO as to the location of the "server_ca.pem" file.

If "TRUSTEDCAS" is not configured to point to a valid "server_ca.pem" file or is missing, this is a finding.

# grep -i "mfa-url" /etc/security/pmfa/pam_pmfa.conf | grep -v '#'

MFA-URL = https://pmfa.example.com:6793/policyAuth/

If the "MFA-URL" is missing or does not point to a valid address, this is a finding.

# grep -i "server-version" /etc/security/pmfa/pam_pmfa.conf | grep -v '#'

SERVER-VERSION = 2

If "SERVER-VERSION" is missing or is not set to "2", this is a finding.

# grep -i "ctc-prompt" /etc/security/pmfa/pam_pmfa.conf | grep -v '#'

CTC-PROMPT-ONLY = Y

If "CTC-PROMPT-ONLY" is missing or is not set to "Y", this is a finding.

Fix

Add or update the following lines in the "/etc/security/pmfa/pam_pmfa.conf" file:

TRUSTEDCAS = /<path_to_file>/server_ca.pem

Note: Verify with the SA/ISSO as to the location of the "server_ca.pem" file.

MFA-URL = https://pmfa.example.com:6793/policyAuth/

SERVER-VERSION = 2

CTC-PROMPT-ONLY = Y

Identifiers

Group ID
V-215439
Group title
SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227
Rule ID
SV-215439r1268332_rule
Check ID
C-16637r294768_chk
Fix ID
F-16635r294769_fix