RHEL 10 must enforce a delay of at least four seconds between login prompts following a failed login attempt.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-281179 | RHEL-10-600200 | SV-281179r1166489_rule | CCI-002238 | medium |
| Description | ||||
| Increasing the time between a failed authentication attempt and reprompting to enter credentials helps to slow a single-threaded brute-force attack. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2026-03-11 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-281179r1166489_chk)
Verify RHEL 10 enforces a delay of at least four seconds between console login prompts following a failed login attempt with the following command:
$ sudo grep -i fail_delay /etc/login.defs
FAIL_DELAY 4
If the value of "FAIL_DELAY" is not set to "4" or greater, or the line is commented out, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-85645r1166488_fix)
Configure RHEL 10 to enforce a delay of at least four seconds between login prompts following a failed console login attempt.
Modify the "/etc/login.defs" file to set the "FAIL_DELAY" parameter to "4" or greater:
FAIL_DELAY 4