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The system must require passwords to contain no more than three consecutive repeating characters.


Overview

Finding ID Version Rule ID IA Controls Severity
V-50995 OL6-00-000299 SV-65201r2_rule Low
Description
Passwords with excessive repeating characters may be more vulnerable to password-guessing attacks.
STIG Date
Oracle Linux 6 Security Technical Implementation Guide 2017-08-25

Details

Check Text ( C-53441r1_chk )
To check the maximum value for consecutive repeating characters, run the following command:

$ grep pam_cracklib /etc/pam.d/system-auth

Look for the value of the "maxrepeat" parameter. The DoD requirement is 3.

If maxrepeat is not found or not set to the required value, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-55801r3_fix)
The pam_cracklib module's 'maxrepeat' parameter controls requirements for consecutive repeating characters. When set to a positive number, it will reject passwords which contain more than that number of consecutive characters. Add 'maxrepeat=3' after pam_cracklib.so to prevent a run of (3 + 1) or more identical characters:

password required pam_cracklib.so maxrepeat=3