RHEL 9 password-auth must be configured to use a sufficient number of hashing rounds.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-258099 | RHEL-09-611050 | SV-258099r1045198_rule | CCI-004062 | medium |
| Description | ||||
| Passwords need to be protected at all times, and encryption is the standard method for protecting passwords. If passwords are not encrypted, they can be plainly read (i.e., clear text) and easily compromised. Passwords that are encrypted with a weak algorithm are no more protected than if they are kept in plain text. Using more hashing rounds makes password cracking attacks more difficult. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000073-GPOS-00041, SRG-OS-000120-GPOS-00061 | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 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-004062
1.00
- DISA · 2 · disa_xccdf · related
Details
Check Text (C-258099r1045198_chk)
Verify the number of rounds for the password hashing algorithm is configured with the following command:
$ grep rounds /etc/pam.d/password-auth
password sufficient pam_unix.so sha512 rounds=100000
If a matching line is not returned or "rounds" is less than "100000", this a finding.
Fix Text (F-61764r1045197_fix)
Configure RHEL 9 to use 100000 hashing rounds for hashing passwords.
Add or modify the following line in "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" and set "rounds" to "100000".
password sufficient pam_unix.so sha512 rounds=100000
Note: Running authselect will overwrite this value unless a custom authselect policy is created.