AIX must enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one upper-case character be used.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-215217 | AIX7-00-001120 | SV-215217r1009535_rule | CCI-004066 | high |
| Description | ||||
| Use of a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password complexity is one factor of several that determines how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password, the greater the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| IBM AIX 7.x Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2024-08-16 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-215217r1009535_chk)
From the command prompt, run the following command to check the system default "minupperalpha" attribute value:
# lssec -f /etc/security/user -s default -a minupperalpha
The above command should yield the following output:
default minupperalpha=1
If the default "minupperalpha" value is not set, or its value is less than "1", this is a finding.
From the command prompt, run the following command to check "minupperalpha" attribute value for all accounts:
# lsuser -a minupperalpha ALL
The above command should yield the following output:
root minupperalpha=2
user2 minupperalpha=2
user3 minupperalpha=1
If any user's "minupperalpha" value is less than "1", this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-16413r294103_fix)
From the command prompt, run the following command to set "minupperalpha=1" for the default stanza in "/etc/security/user":
# chsec -f /etc/security/user -s default -a minupperalpha=1
For each user who has "minupperalpha=0", set its "minupperalpha" to "1" by running the following command from command prompt:
# chsec -f /etc/security/user -s [user_name] -a minupperalpha=1