RHEL 10 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-281214 | SRG-OS-000069-GPOS-00037 | RHEL-10-600620 | SV-281214r1166594_rule | 2026-03-11 | 1 |
Description
Enabling Pluggable Authentication Module (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 RHEL 10 uses "pwquality" to enforce the password complexity rules in the "password-auth" file with the following command:
$ sudo grep pam_pwquality /etc/pam.d/password-auth
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.
If the system administrator can demonstrate that the required configuration is contained in a PAM configuration file included or substacked from the "system-auth" file, this is not a finding.
✔️ Fix
Configure RHEL 10 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