RHEL 9 passwords for new users must have a minimum of 15 characters.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-258108	RHEL-09-611095	SV-258108r997094_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 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2024-06-04

Details

Check Text ( C-61849r926309_chk )
Verify that RHEL 9 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 command does not return a "PASS_MIN_LEN" value of "15" or greater, does not return a line, or the line is commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-61773r926310_fix)
Configure RHEL 9 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