SLEM 5 must prevent the use of dictionary words for passwords.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-261381 | SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00225 | SLEM-05-611030 | SV-261381r996574_rule | 2026-02-10 | 1 |
Description
If SLEM 5 allows the user to select passwords based on dictionary words, this increases the chances of password compromise by increasing the opportunity for successful guesses and brute-force attacks.
ℹ️ Check
Verify SLEM 5 prevents the use of dictionary words for passwords with the following command:
> grep pam_cracklib.so /etc/pam.d/common-password
password requisite pam_cracklib.so
If the second column value is different from "requisite", the line is commented out, or the line is missing, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Configure SLEM 5 to prevent the use of dictionary words for passwords.
Edit "/etc/pam.d/common-password" and add the following line:
password requisite pam_cracklib.so