The pam_unix.so module must use a FIPS 140-2 approved cryptographic hashing algorithm for system authentication.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-214957	UBTU-16-010180	SV-214957r610931_rule		Medium

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. Ubuntu operating systems utilizing encryption are required to use FIPS-compliant mechanisms for authenticating to cryptographic modules. FIPS 140-2 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.

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. Ubuntu operating systems utilizing encryption are required to use FIPS-compliant mechanisms for authenticating to cryptographic modules. FIPS 140-2 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.

STIG	Date
Canonical Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Security Technical Implementation Guide	2020-12-09

Details

Check Text ( C-16156r284739_chk )
Verify that pam_unix.so auth is configured to use sha512. Check that pam_unix.so auth is configured to use sha512 with the following command: # grep password /etc/pam.d/common-password \| grep pam_unix password [success=1 default=ignore] pam_unix.so obscure sha512 If "sha512" is not an option of the output, or is commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-16154r284740_fix)
Configure the Ubuntu operating system to use a FIPS 140-2 approved cryptographic hashing algorithm for system authentication. Edit/modify the following line in the file "/etc/pam.d/common-password" file to include the sha512 option for pam_unix.so: password [success=1 default=ignore] pam_unix.so obscure sha512 shadow remember=5