The ESXi host must prohibit the reuse of passwords within five iterations.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-256398 | SRG-OS-000077-VMM-000440 | ESXI-70-000032 | SV-256398r984204_rule | 2025-02-11 | 1 |
Description
If a user or root used the same password continuously or was allowed to change it back shortly after being forced to change it to something else, it would provide a potential intruder with the opportunity to keep guessing at one user's password until it was guessed correctly.
ℹ️ Check
From the vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters.
Select the ESXi Host >> Configure >> System >> Advanced System Settings.
Select the "Security.PasswordHistory" value and verify it is set to "5".
or
From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following command:
Get-VMHost | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name Security.PasswordHistory
If the "Security.PasswordHistory" setting is not set to "5" this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
From the vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters.
Select the ESXi Host >> Configure >> System >> Advanced System Settings.
Click "Edit". Select the "Security.PasswordHistory" value and configure it to "5".
or
From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following command:
Get-VMHost | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name Security.PasswordHistory | Set-AdvancedSetting -Value 5