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The system must disable accounts after three consecutive unsuccessful logon attempts.


Overview

Finding ID Version Rule ID IA Controls Severity
V-208836 OL6-00-000061 SV-208836r793621_rule Medium
Description
Locking out user accounts after a number of incorrect attempts prevents direct password guessing attacks.
STIG Date
Oracle Linux 6 Security Technical Implementation Guide 2021-12-03

Details

Check Text ( C-36260r602374_chk )
To ensure the failed password attempt policy is configured correctly, run the following command:

# grep pam_faillock /etc/pam.d/system-auth /etc/pam.d/password-auth

The output should show "deny=3" for both files.
If that is not the case, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-36224r602375_fix)
To configure the system to lock out accounts after a number of incorrect logon attempts using "pam_faillock.so", modify the content of both "/etc/pam.d/system-auth" and "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" as follows:

Add the following line immediately before the "pam_unix.so" statement in the "AUTH" section:

auth required pam_faillock.so preauth silent deny=3 unlock_time=900 fail_interval=900

Add the following line immediately after the "pam_unix.so" statement in the "AUTH" section:

auth [default=die] pam_faillock.so authfail deny=3 unlock_time=900 fail_interval=900

Add the following line immediately before the "pam_unix.so" statement in the "ACCOUNT" section:

account required pam_faillock.so

Note that any updates made to "/etc/pam.d/system-auth" and "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" may be overwritten by the "authconfig" program. The "authconfig" program should not be used.