RHEL 8 must require the maximum number of repeating characters be limited to three when passwords are changed.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-230361 | RHEL-08-020150 | SV-230361r1017173_rule | CCI-000195 | 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. RHEL 8 utilizes "pwquality" as a mechanism to enforce password complexity. The "maxrepeat" option sets the maximum number of allowed same consecutive characters in a new password. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2025-05-14 | |||
Related Frameworks
6 paths across 3 frameworks
Related Frameworks
NIST 800-531 mapping
IA-5(1)
1.00
- DISA · 2 · disa_xccdf · related
- DISA · 2025-01-23 · disa_cci_list · equivalent
NIST 800-1714 mappings
3.5.10
1.00
- DISA · 2 · disa_xccdf · related
- DISA · 2025-01-23 · disa_cci_list · equivalent
- NIST · Rev 2 (Feb 2020, errata Jan 2021) · nist_800_171_app_d · equivalent
3.5.7
1.00
- DISA · 2 · disa_xccdf · related
- DISA · 2025-01-23 · disa_cci_list · equivalent
- NIST · Rev 2 (Feb 2020, errata Jan 2021) · nist_800_171_app_d · equivalent
3.5.8
1.00
- DISA · 2 · disa_xccdf · related
- DISA · 2025-01-23 · disa_cci_list · equivalent
- NIST · Rev 2 (Feb 2020, errata Jan 2021) · nist_800_171_app_d · equivalent
3.5.9
1.00
- DISA · 2 · disa_xccdf · related
- DISA · 2025-01-23 · disa_cci_list · equivalent
- NIST · Rev 2 (Feb 2020, errata Jan 2021) · nist_800_171_app_d · equivalent
CCI1 mapping
CCI-000195
1.00
- DISA · 2 · disa_xccdf · related
Details
Check Text (C-230361r1017173_chk)
Check for the value of the "maxrepeat" option with the following command:
$ sudo grep -r maxrepeat /etc/security/pwquality.conf*
/etc/security/pwquality.conf:maxrepeat = 3
If the value of "maxrepeat" is set to more than "3" or is commented out, this is a finding.
If conflicting results are returned, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-33005r858778_fix)
Configure the operating system to require the change of the number of repeating consecutive characters when passwords are changed by setting the "maxrepeat" option.
Add the following line to "/etc/security/pwquality.conf conf" (or modify the line to have the required value):
maxrepeat = 3
Remove any configurations that conflict with the above value.