The Photon operating system must be configured to use the pam_deny.so module.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-285222 | SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00228 | PHTN-40-000267 | SV-285222r1210426_rule | 2026-06-02 | 2 |
Description
Configuring the operating system to implement organizationwide security implementation guides and security checklists ensures compliance with federal standards and establishes a common security baseline across DOD that reflects the most restrictive security posture consistent with operational requirements.
Configuration settings are the set of parameters that can be changed in hardware, software, or firmware components of the system that affect the security posture and/or functionality of the system. Security-related parameters impact the security state of the system and include the parameters required to satisfy other security control requirements. Security-related parameters include, for example, registry settings; account, file, and directory permission settings; and settings for functions, ports, protocols, services, and remote connections.
ℹ️ Check
At the command line, run the following commands to verify the pam_deny.so module is used:
# grep '^auth' /etc/pam.d/system-auth
Example result:
auth required pam_faillock.so preauth
auth sufficient pam_unix.so
auth required pam_faillock.so authfail
auth optional pam_faildelay.so delay=4000000
auth required pam_deny.so
If the pam_deny.so module is not present, or is not configured as the last auth entry, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Navigate to and open:
/etc/sysctl.d/zz-stig-hardening.conf
Add or update the following line:
fs.suid_dumpable = 0
Note: "0" is recommended for normal operation. If core dumps need to be captured for troubleshooting purposes, then "2" is also an acceptable value.
At the command line, run the following command to load the new configuration:
# /sbin/sysctl --load /etc/sysctl.d/zz-stig-hardening.conf
Note: If the file zz-stig-hardening.conf does not exist, it must be created.