RHEL 9 passwords for new users must have a minimum of 15 characters.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-258108	RHEL-09-611095	SV-258108r926311_rule		Medium

Description

The shorter the password, the lower the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password length is one factor of several that helps to determine strength and how long it takes to crack a password. Use of more characters in a password helps to increase exponentially the time and/or resources required to compromise the password. The DOD minimum password requirement is 15 characters.

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

Details

Check Text ( C-61849r926309_chk )
Verify that RHEL 9 enforces a minimum 15-character password length for new user accounts by running the following command: $ sudo grep -i pass_min_len /etc/login.defs PASS_MIN_LEN 15 If the command does not return a "PASS_MIN_LEN" value of "15" or greater, does not return a line, or the line is commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-61773r926310_fix)
Configure RHEL 9 to enforce a minimum 15-character password length for new user accounts. Add or modify the following line in the "/etc/login.defs" file: PASS_MIN_LEN 15