OL 9 must ensure the password complexity module is enabled in the password-auth file.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-271614 | SRG-OS-000069-GPOS-00037 | OL09-00-001010 | SV-271614r1091554_rule | 2026-02-17 | 1 |
Description
Enabling PAM password complexity permits enforcement of strong passwords and consequently makes the system less prone to dictionary attacks.
Satisfies: SRG-OS-000069-GPOS-00037, SRG-OS-000070-GPOS-00038
ℹ️ Check
Verify that OL 9 uses "pwquality" to enforce the password complexity rules in the password-auth file with the following command:
$ grep pam_pwquality /etc/pam.d/password-auth | grep pam_pwquality
password required pam_pwquality.so
If the command does not return a line containing the value "pam_pwquality.so", or the line is commented out, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Configure OL 9 to use "pwquality" to enforce password complexity rules.
Add the following line to the "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" file (or modify the line to have the required value):
password required pam_pwquality.so