OL 8 must require the change of at least 8 characters when passwords are changed.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-248693	OL08-00-020170	SV-248693r858643_rule		Low

Description
Use of a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. 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 determines how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password, the greater the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. OL 8 uses "pwquality" as a mechanism to enforce password complexity. The "difok" option sets the number of characters in a password that must not be present in the old password.

Description

Use of a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. 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 determines how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password, the greater the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. OL 8 uses "pwquality" as a mechanism to enforce password complexity. The "difok" option sets the number of characters in a password that must not be present in the old password.

STIG	Date
Oracle Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-09-11

Details

Check Text ( C-52127r833231_chk )
Verify the value of the "difok" option in "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" or "/etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/.conf" files with the following command: $ sudo grep -r difok /etc/security/pwquality.conf /etc/security/pwquality.conf:difok = 8 If the value of "difok" is set to less than "8" or is commented out, this is a finding. If conflicting results are returned, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-52081r858642_fix)
Configure OL 8 to require the change of at least eight of the total number of characters when passwords are changed by setting the "difok" option. Add or update the following line in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" file or a configuration file in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/" directory: difok = 8 Remove any configurations that conflict with the above value.