The Ubuntu operating system must enforce a minimum 15-character password length.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-238225	UBTU-20-010054	SV-238225r653850_rule		Medium

Description

The shorter the password, the lower the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password length is one factor of several that helps to determine strength and how long it takes to crack a password. Use of more characters in a password helps to exponentially increase the time and/or resources required to compromise the password.

STIG	Date
Canonical Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Security Technical Implementation Guide	2021-11-19

Details

Check Text ( C-41435r653848_chk )
Verify the pwquality configuration file enforces a minimum 15-character password length by running the following command: $ grep -i ^minlen /etc/security/pwquality.conf minlen=15 If "minlen" parameter value is not "15" or higher or is commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-41394r653849_fix)
Configure the Ubuntu operating system to enforce a minimum 15-character password length. Add or modify the "minlen" parameter value to the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" file: minlen=15