The Photon operating system must include root when automatically locking an account until the locked account is released by an administrator when three unsuccessful logon attempts occur during a 15-minute time period.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-258861 | PHTN-40-000195 | SV-258861r933644_rule | CCI-000044 | medium |
| Description | ||||
| By limiting the number of failed logon attempts, the risk of unauthorized system access via user password guessing, otherwise known as brute-force attacks, is reduced. Limits are imposed by locking the account. Unless specified the root account is not included in the default faillock module options and should be included. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| VMware vSphere 8.0 vCenter Appliance Photon OS 4.0 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2023-10-29 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-258861r933644_chk)
At the command line, run the following command to verify accounts are locked after three consecutive invalid logon attempts by a user during a 15-minute time period includes the root account:
# grep '^even_deny_root' /etc/security/faillock.conf
Example result:
even_deny_root
If the "even_deny_root" option is not set, is missing or commented out, this is a finding.
Note: If faillock.conf is not used to configure pam_faillock.so then these options may be specified on the faillock lines in the system-auth and system-account files.
Fix Text (F-62510r933643_fix)
Navigate to and open:
/etc/security/faillock.conf
Add or update the following lines:
even_deny_root
Note: On vCenter appliances, the equivalent file must be edited under "/etc/applmgmt/appliance", if one exists, for the changes to persist after a reboot.