IBM z/OS must enforce a minimum eight character password length.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-252705 | SRG-OS-000481-GPOS-00481 | ACF2-ES-000990 | SV-252705r1001146_rule | 2026-03-09 | 9 |
Description
The shorter the password, the lower the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised.
Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password length is one factor of several that helps to determine strength and how long it takes to crack a password. Use of more characters in a password helps to exponentially increase the time and/or resources required to compromise the password.
ℹ️ Check
From an ACF command screen enter:
SET CONTROL(GSO)
LIST PSWD
If "MINPSWD" is set to "8", this is not a finding.
✔️ Fix
Configure the Password option "MINPSWD" to "8".