The network device must enforce password complexity by the number of lowercase characters used.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
SRG-NET-000156-NDM-000113	SRG-NET-000156-NDM-000113	SRG-NET-000156-NDM-000113_rule		Medium

Description
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 determine how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password, the greater the number of possible character combinations to be tested before the password is compromised. Use of a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. A combination requiring the use of upper case, lower case, numeric, and special characters enhances the complexity of the password string. This control applies to passwords configured or controlled by the network device itself.

Description

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 determine how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password, the greater the number of possible character combinations to be tested before the password is compromised. Use of a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. A combination requiring the use of upper case, lower case, numeric, and special characters enhances the complexity of the password string. This control applies to passwords configured or controlled by the network device itself.

STIG	Date
Network Device Management Security Requirements Guide	2013-07-30

Details

Check Text ( C-SRG-NET-000156-NDM-000113_chk )
If authentication functionality is provided by the underlying platform's account management system or by a network authentication server rather than the network device application itself, this is not a finding. Review the network device configuration and settings to determine whether passwords contain the organization defined number of lower case characters. If the network device does not require the passwords have the organization defined number of lower case characters, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-SRG-NET-000156-NDM-000113_chk )

If authentication functionality is provided by the underlying platform's account management system or by a network authentication server rather than the network device application itself, this is not a finding.

Review the network device configuration and settings to determine whether passwords contain the organization defined number of lower case characters.

If the network device does not require the passwords have the organization defined number of lower case characters, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-SRG-NET-000156-NDM-000113_fix)
Configure the network device to enforce password complexity by the number of lower case characters used.