RHEL 8 passwords for new users must have a minimum of 15 characters.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-230370	RHEL-08-020231	SV-230370r627750_rule		Medium

Description
The shorter the password, the lower the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password length is one factor of several that helps to determine strength and how long it takes to crack a password. Use of more characters in a password helps to increase exponentially the time and/or resources required to compromise the password. The DoD minimum password requirement is 15 characters.

Description

The shorter the password, the lower the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password length is one factor of several that helps to determine strength and how long it takes to crack a password. Use of more characters in a password helps to increase exponentially the time and/or resources required to compromise the password. The DoD minimum password requirement is 15 characters.

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2024-02-19

Details

Check Text ( C-33039r567856_chk )
Verify that RHEL 8 enforces a minimum 15-character password length for new user accounts by running the following command: $ sudo grep -i pass_min_len /etc/login.defs PASS_MIN_LEN 15 If the "PASS_MIN_LEN" parameter value is less than "15", or commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-33014r567857_fix)
Configure operating system to enforce a minimum 15-character password length for new user accounts. Add, or modify the following line in the "/etc/login.defs" file: PASS_MIN_LEN 15