RHEL 9 must prevent the use of dictionary words for passwords.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-258110 | RHEL-09-611105 | SV-258110r1045223_rule | CCI-000366 | 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. If RHEL 9 allows the user to select passwords based on dictionary words, this increases the chances of password compromise by increasing the opportunity for successful guesses, and brute-force attacks. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2025-05-14 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-258110r1045223_chk)
Verify RHEL 9 prevents the use of dictionary words for passwords with the following command:
$ grep dictcheck /etc/security/pwquality.conf /etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/*.conf
/etc/security/pwquality.conf:dictcheck = 1
If "dictcheck" does not have a value other than "0", or is commented out, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-61775r1045222_fix)
Configure RHEL 9 to prevent the use of dictionary words for passwords.
Add or update the following line in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" file or a configuration file in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/" directory to contain the "dictcheck" parameter:
dictcheck=1