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RHEL 9 must ensure the password complexity module is enabled in the password-auth file.

Overview

Finding IDVersionRule IDIA ControlsSeverity
V-258097RHEL-09-611040SV-258097r1045193_ruleCCI-004066medium
Description
Enabling PAM password complexity permits enforcement of strong passwords and consequently makes the system less prone to dictionary attacks. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000069-GPOS-00037, SRG-OS-000070-GPOS-00038, SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227
STIGDate
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide2026-02-05

Related Frameworks

1 mapping across 4 frameworks
SCF0 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (3) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

IAC-10Authenticator Management
0.50
IAC-10.1Password-Based Authentication
0.50
IAC-10.4Automated Support For Password Strength
0.50
NIST 800-530 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 2 hops (61) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

AC-10Concurrent Session Control
1.00
AC-12Session Termination
1.00
AC-17(10)Authenticate Remote Commands
1.00
AC-2(1)Automated System Account Management
1.00
AC-2(10)Shared and Group Account Credential Change
1.00
AC-2(11)Usage Conditions
1.00
AC-2(2)Automated Temporary and Emergency Account Management
1.00
AC-2(3)Disable Accounts
1.00
AC-2(4)Automated Audit Actions
1.00
AC-3Access Enforcement
1.00

+51 more (top 10 by confidence shown)

NIST 800-1710 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (4) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

3.5.10
1.00
3.5.7
1.00
3.5.8
1.00
3.5.9
1.00
CCI1 mapping
CCI-004066
1.00

Details

Check Text (C-258097r1045193_chk)

Verify RHEL 9 uses "pwquality" to enforce the password complexity rules in the password-auth file with the following command: $ grep pam_pwquality /etc/pam.d/password-auth password required pam_pwquality.so If the command does not return a line containing the value "pam_pwquality.so", or the line is commented out, 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-61762r926277_fix)

Configure RHEL 9 to use "pwquality" to enforce password complexity rules. Add the following line to the "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" file (or modify the line to have the required value): password required pam_pwquality.so