RHEL 9 must automatically lock an account when three unsuccessful logon attempts occur.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-258054	RHEL-09-411075	SV-258054r926149_rule		Medium

Description
By limiting the number of failed logon attempts, the risk of unauthorized system access via user password guessing, otherwise known as brute-force attacks, is reduced. Limits are imposed by locking the account. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000329-GPOS-00128, SRG-OS-000021-GPOS-00005

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-12-01

Details

Check Text ( C-61795r926147_chk )
Verify RHEL 9 is configured to lock an account after three unsuccessful logon attempts with the command: $ grep 'deny =' /etc/security/faillock.conf deny = 3 If the "deny" option is not set to "3" or less (but not "0"), is missing or commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-61719r926148_fix)
Configure RHEL 9 to lock an account when three unsuccessful logon attempts occur. Add/modify the "/etc/security/faillock.conf" file to match the following line: deny = 3