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The system must prohibit the reuse of passwords within twenty-four iterations.


Overview

Finding ID Version Rule ID IA Controls Severity
V-38658 RHEL-06-000274 SV-50459r1_rule Medium
Description
Preventing reuse of previous passwords helps ensure that a compromised password is not reused by a user.
STIG Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Security Technical Implementation Guide 2014-06-11

Details

Check Text ( C-46219r1_chk )
To verify the password reuse setting is compliant, run the following command:

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

The output should show the following at the end of the line:

remember=24


If it does not, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-43608r1_fix)
Do not allow users to reuse recent passwords. This can be accomplished by using the "remember" option for the "pam_unix" PAM module. In the file "/etc/pam.d/system-auth", append "remember=24" to the line which refers to the "pam_unix.so" module, as shown:

password sufficient pam_unix.so [existing_options] remember=24

The DoD requirement is 24 passwords.