RHEL 9 must configure the use of the pam_faillock.so module in the /etc/pam.d/password-auth file.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-258096 | RHEL-09-611035 | SV-258096r1045191_rule | CCI-000044 | medium |
| Description | ||||
| If the pam_faillock.so module is not loaded, the system will not correctly lockout accounts to prevent password guessing attacks. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2025-05-14 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-258096r1045191_chk)
Verify the pam_faillock.so module is present in the "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" file:
$ grep pam_faillock.so /etc/pam.d/password-auth
auth required pam_faillock.so preauth
auth required pam_faillock.so authfail
account required pam_faillock.so
If the pam_faillock.so module is not present in the "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" file with the "preauth" line listed before pam_unix.so, this is a finding.
If the system administrator (SA) can demonstrate that the required configuration is contained in a PAM configuration file included or substacked from the system-auth file, this is not a finding.
Fix Text (F-61761r1045190_fix)
Configure RHEL 9 to include the use of the pam_faillock.so module in the /etc/pam.d/password-auth file. If PAM is managed with authselect, enable the feature with the following command:
$ sudo authselect enable-feature with-faillock
Otherwise, add/modify the appropriate sections of the "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" file to match the following lines:
Note: The "preauth" line must be listed before pam_unix.so.
auth required pam_faillock.so preauth
auth required pam_faillock.so authfail
account required pam_faillock.so