TOSS 5 must ensure the password complexity module is enabled in the system-auth file.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| high | V-282738 | SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227 | TOSS-05-000335 | SV-282738r1201194_rule | 2026-04-01 | 1 |
Description
Enabling PAM password complexity permits enforcement of strong passwords and consequently makes the system less prone to dictionary attacks.
ℹ️ Check
Verify TOSS 5 uses "pwquality" to enforce the password complexity rules in the "system-auth" file using the following command:
$ cat /etc/pam.d/system-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 TOSS 5 to use "pwquality" to enforce password complexity rules.
Add the following line to the "/etc/pam.d/system-auth" file(or modify the line to have the required value):
password required pam_pwquality.so