The SUSE operating system must employ FIPS 140-2 approved cryptographic hashing algorithm for system authentication (login.defs).

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-234825	SLES-15-010260	SV-234825r622137_rule		Medium

Description
Unapproved mechanisms that are used for authentication to the cryptographic module are not verified and therefore cannot be relied on to provide confidentiality or integrity, and DoD data may be compromised. SUSE operating systems using encryption are required to use FIPS-compliant mechanisms for authenticating to cryptographic modules. FIPS 140-2 is the current standard for validating that mechanisms used to access cryptographic modules use authentication that meets DoD requirements. This allows for Security Levels 1, 2, 3, or 4 for use on a general-purpose computing system.

Description

Unapproved mechanisms that are used for authentication to the cryptographic module are not verified and therefore cannot be relied on to provide confidentiality or integrity, and DoD data may be compromised. SUSE operating systems using encryption are required to use FIPS-compliant mechanisms for authenticating to cryptographic modules. FIPS 140-2 is the current standard for validating that mechanisms used to access cryptographic modules use authentication that meets DoD requirements. This allows for Security Levels 1, 2, 3, or 4 for use on a general-purpose computing system.

STIG	Date
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2024-02-16

Details

Check Text ( C-38013r618744_chk )
Verify the SUSE operating system requires that the "ENCRYPT_METHOD" value in "/etc/login.defs" is set to "SHA512". Check the value of "ENCRYPT_METHOD" value in "/etc/login.defs" with the following command: > grep "^ENCRYPT_METHOD " /etc/login.defs ENCRYPT_METHOD SHA512 If "ENCRYPT_METHOD" is not set to "SHA512", if any values other that "SHA512" are configured, or if no output is produced, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-38013r618744_chk )

Verify the SUSE operating system requires that the "ENCRYPT_METHOD" value in "/etc/login.defs" is set to "SHA512".

Check the value of "ENCRYPT_METHOD" value in "/etc/login.defs" with the following command:

> grep "^ENCRYPT_METHOD " /etc/login.defs

ENCRYPT_METHOD SHA512

If "ENCRYPT_METHOD" is not set to "SHA512", if any values other that "SHA512" are configured, or if no output is produced, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-37976r618745_fix)
Configure the SUSE operating system to require "ENCRYPT_METHOD" of "SHA512". Edit the "/etc/login.defs" file with the following line: ENCRYPT_METHOD SHA512