The Photon operating system must store only encrypted representations of passwords.

Passwords must be protected at all times via strong, one-way encryption. If passwords are not encrypted, they can be plainly read (i.e., clear text) and easily compromised. If they are encrypted with a weak cipher, those passwords are much more vulnerable to offline brute-force attacks.

At the command line, run the following command:

# grep password /etc/pam.d/system-password|grep --color=always "sha512"

If the output does not include "sha512", this is a finding.

Navigate to and open:

/etc/pam.d/system-password

Add the argument "sha512" to the "password" line:

password required pam_unix.so sha512 shadow try_first_pass

Note: On vCenter appliances, the equivalent file must be edited under "/etc/applmgmt/appliance", if one exists, for the changes to persist after a reboot.