RHEL 8 must require the maximum number of repeating characters of the same character class be limited to four when passwords are changed.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-230360	RHEL-08-020140	SV-230360r809289_rule		Medium

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. RHEL 8 utilizes "pwquality" as a mechanism to enforce password complexity. The "maxclassrepeat" option sets the maximum number of allowed same consecutive characters in the same class in the new 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. RHEL 8 utilizes "pwquality" as a mechanism to enforce password complexity. The "maxclassrepeat" option sets the maximum number of allowed same consecutive characters in the same class in the new password.

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2021-12-03

Details

Check Text ( C-33029r809288_chk )
Check for the value of the "maxclassrepeat" option in "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" with the following command: $ sudo grep maxclassrepeat /etc/security/pwquality.conf maxclassrepeat = 4 If the value of "maxclassrepeat" is set to "0", more than "4" or is commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-33004r567827_fix)
Configure the operating system to require the change of the number of repeating characters of the same character class when passwords are changed by setting the "maxclassrepeat" option. Add the following line to "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" conf (or modify the line to have the required value): maxclassrepeat = 4