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RHEL 9 pam_unix.so module must be configured in the password-auth file to use a FIPS 140-3 approved cryptographic hashing algorithm for system authentication.

Overview

Finding IDVersionRule IDIA ControlsSeverity
V-258233RHEL-09-671025SV-258233r1015136_ruleCCI-004062medium
Description
Unapproved mechanisms that are used for authentication to the cryptographic module are not verified and; therefore, cannot be relied upon to provide confidentiality or integrity, and DOD data may be compromised. RHEL 9 systems utilizing encryption are required to use FIPS-compliant mechanisms for authenticating to cryptographic modules. FIPS 140-3 is the current standard for validating that mechanisms used to access cryptographic modules utilize authentication that meets DOD requirements. This allows for Security Levels 1, 2, 3, or 4 for use on a general-purpose computing system.
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 (58) 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-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
AC-3(4)Discretionary Access Control
1.00

+48 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-004062
1.00

Details

Check Text (C-258233r1015136_chk)

Verify that the pam_unix.so module is configured to use sha512 in /etc/pam.d/password-auth with the following command: $ grep "^password.*pam_unix.so.*sha512" /etc/pam.d/password-auth password sufficient pam_unix.so sha512 If "sha512" is missing, 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-61898r926685_fix)

Configure RHEL 9 to use a FIPS 140-3 approved cryptographic hashing algorithm for system authentication. Edit/modify the following line in the "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" file to include the sha512 option for pam_unix.so: password sufficient pam_unix.so sha512