RHEL 10 must automatically lock the root account until the root account is released by an administrator when three unsuccessful login attempts occur during a 15-minute time period.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-281195 | RHEL-10-600415 | SV-281195r1166537_rule | CCI-002238 | medium |
| Description | ||||
| By limiting the number of failed login attempts, the risk of unauthorized system access via user password guessing, also known as brute-forcing, is reduced. Limits are imposed by locking the account. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000329-GPOS-00128, SRG-OS-000021-GPOS-00005 | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2026-03-11 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-281195r1166537_chk)
Verify RHEL 10 is configured to lock the root account after three unsuccessful login attempts with the following command:
$ sudo grep even_deny_root /etc/security/faillock.conf
even_deny_root
If the "even_deny_root" option is not set or is missing or commented out, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-85661r1166536_fix)
Configure RHEL 10 to lock out the "root" account after a number of incorrect login attempts using "pam_faillock.so".
Enable the feature using the following command:
$ sudo authselect enable-feature with-faillock
Edit the "/etc/security/faillock.conf" by uncommenting or adding the following line:
even_deny_root