Rule version RCKS-NDM-000390 · STIG v1 · 2025-05-28
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.
The shorter the password, the lower the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. Use of more characters in a password helps to exponentially increase the time and/or resources required to compromise the password.
Satisfies: SRG-APP-000164-NDM-000252, SRG-APP-000166-NDM-000254, SRG-APP-000167-NDM-000255, SRG-APP-000168-NDM-000256, SRG-APP-000169-NDM-000257
Verify strict password enforcement is configured:
SSH@ICX(config)#show running-config | include strict-password-enforcement
If strict-password-enforcement is not configured, this is a finding.
Configure strict password enforcement:
SSH@ICX(config)# enable strict-password-enforcement