OL 8 must require the change of at least eight characters when passwords are changed.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-248693 | OL08-00-020170 | SV-248693r1015053_rule | CCI-004066 | low |
| 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 "difok" option sets the number of characters in a password that must not be present in the old password. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Oracle Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2025-05-13 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-248693r1015053_chk)
Verify the value of the "difok" option in "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" or "/etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/*.conf" files with the following command:
$ sudo grep -r difok /etc/security/pwquality.conf*
/etc/security/pwquality.conf:difok = 8
If the value of "difok" is set to less than "8" or is commented out, this is a finding.
If conflicting results are returned, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-52081r858642_fix)
Configure OL 8 to require the change of at least eight of the total number of characters when passwords are changed by setting the "difok" 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:
difok = 8
Remove any configurations that conflict with the above value.