Nutanix OS must enforce a minimum 15-character password length.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-279611 | NXAC-OS-000168 | SV-279611r1192328_rule | CCI-004066 | 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. Using more characters in a password helps to exponentially increase the time and/or resources required to compromise the password. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Nutanix Acropolis GPOS Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2026-02-24 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-279611r1192328_chk)
Verify Nutanix OS is configured to enforce a minimum 15-character password length using the following command.
$ sudo grep minlen /etc/security/pwquality.conf
minlen = 15
If the command does not return a "minlen" value of 15 or greater, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-84069r1192327_fix)
Configure Nutanix OS to use complex password.
1. For AOS, enter the following command.
$ sudo salt-call state.sls security/CVM/pamCVM.sls
2. For Prism Central, enter the following command.
$ sudo salt-call state.sls security/PCVM/pamPCVM.sls
3. For Files, enter the following command.
$ sudo salt-call state.sls security/AFS/pamAFS.sls
4. For AHV OS CVM, enter the following command.
$ ncli cluster edit-hypervisor-security-params enable-high-strength-password=true