RHEL 9 must enforce a delay of at least four seconds between logon prompts following a failed logon attempt.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-258071 | RHEL-09-412050 | SV-258071r991588_rule | CCI-000366 | 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 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2025-05-14 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-258071r991588_chk)
Verify RHEL 9 enforces a delay of at least four seconds between console logon prompts following a failed logon attempt with the following command:
$ 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-61736r926199_fix)
Configure the RHEL 9 to enforce a delay of at least four seconds between logon prompts following a failed console logon attempt.
Modify the "/etc/login.defs" file to set the "FAIL_DELAY" parameter to 4 or greater:
FAIL_DELAY 4