The Photon operating system must be configured to use the pam_pwquality.so module.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-258863 | PHTN-40-000197 | SV-258863r933650_rule | CCI-000192 | 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. Password complexity is one factor of several that determines how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password, the greater the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| VMware vSphere 8.0 vCenter Appliance Photon OS 4.0 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2023-10-29 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-258863r933650_chk)
At the command line, run the following command to verify the pam_pwquality.so module is used:
# grep '^password' /etc/pam.d/system-password
Example result:
password requisite pam_pwquality.so dcredit=-1 ucredit=-1 lcredit=-1 ocredit=-1 minlen=15 difok=8 enforce_for_root dictcheck=1
password required pam_pwhistory.so remember=5 retry=3 enforce_for_root use_authtok
password required pam_unix.so sha512 use_authtok shadow try_first_pass
If the pam_pwquality.so module is not present, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-62512r933649_fix)
Navigate to and open:
/etc/pam.d/system-password
Add or update the pam_pwquality.so module line as follows:
password requisite pam_pwquality.so dcredit=-1 ucredit=-1 lcredit=-1 ocredit=-1 minlen=15 difok=8 enforce_for_root dictcheck=1
Note: The line must be configured before pam_pwhistory.so.
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.