OL 8 must require the change of at least four character classes when passwords are changed.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-248692 | OL08-00-020160 | SV-248692r1015052_rule | CCI-004066 | medium |
| 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. OL 8 uses "pwquality" as a mechanism to enforce password complexity. The "minclass" option sets the minimum number of required classes of characters for the new password (digits, uppercase, lowercase, others). | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Oracle Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2025-05-13 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-248692r1015052_chk)
Verify the value of the "minclass" option in "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" or "/etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/*.conf" files with the following command:
$ sudo grep -r minclass /etc/security/pwquality.conf*
/etc/security/pwquality.conf:minclass = 4
If the value of "minclass" is set to less than "4" or is commented out, this is a finding.
If conflicting results are returned, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-52080r858640_fix)
Configure OL 8 to require the change of at least four character classes when passwords are changed by setting the "minclass" option.
Add or update the following line in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" file or a configuration file in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/" directory:
minclass = 4
Remove any configurations that conflict with the above value.