Rule version SLEM-05-611095 · STIG v1 · 2026-08-20
Enforcing a minimum password lifetime helps prevent repeated password changes to defeat the password reuse or history enforcement requirement. If users are allowed to immediately and continually change their password, the password could be repeatedly changed in a short period of time to defeat the organization's policy regarding password reuse.
Verify SLEM 5 creates or updates passwords with minimum password age of one day or greater with the following command:
> grep '^PASS_MIN_DAYS' /etc/login.defs
PASS_MIN_DAYS 1If "PASS_MIN_DAYS" does not have a value of "1" or greater, the line is commented out, or no line is returned, this is a finding.
Configure SLEM 5 to enforce 24 hours/one day or greater as the minimum password age.
Add or modify the following line in the "/etc/login.defs" file:
PASS_MIN_DAYS <days>
The DoW requirement is "1", but a greater value is acceptable.