If multifactor authentication is not supported and passwords must be used, the CA API Gateway must require that when a password is changed, the characters are changed in at least 8 of the positions within the password.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-71533	CAGW-DM-000170	SV-86157r1_rule		Medium

Description
If the application allows the user to consecutively reuse extensive portions of passwords, this increases the chances of password compromise by increasing the window of opportunity for attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. The number of changed characters refers to the number of changes required with respect to the total number of positions in the current password. In other words, characters may be the same within the two passwords; however, the positions of the like characters must be different.

Description

If the application allows the user to consecutively reuse extensive portions of passwords, this increases the chances of password compromise by increasing the window of opportunity for attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. The number of changed characters refers to the number of changes required with respect to the total number of positions in the current password. In other words, characters may be the same within the two passwords; however, the positions of the like characters must be different.

STIG	Date
CA API Gateway NDM Security Technical Implementation Guide	2016-09-20

Details

Check Text ( C-71905r1_chk )
Verify the password attribute "difok" field is set to "8" in the following files: -- /etc/pam.d/password-auth -- /etc/pam.d/password-auth-ac If the password attribute "difok" field is not set to "8" in these files, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-77853r1_fix)
Set the password attribute "difok" field is set to "8" in the following files: -- /etc/pam.d/password-auth -- /etc/pam.d/password-auth-ac