The system must ensure the vpxuser password meets length policy.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
SRG-OS-99999-ESXI5-000146	SRG-OS-99999-ESXI5-000146	SRG-OS-99999-ESXI5-000146_rule		Medium

Description
The vpxuser password default length is 32 characters. Ensure this setting meets site policies; if not, configure to meet password length policies. Longer passwords make brute-force password attacks more difficult. The vpxuser password is added by vCenter, meaning no manual intervention is normally required. The vpxuser password length must never be modified to less than the default length of 32 characters.

Description

The vpxuser password default length is 32 characters. Ensure this setting meets site policies; if not, configure to meet password length policies. Longer passwords make brute-force password attacks more difficult. The vpxuser password is added by vCenter, meaning no manual intervention is normally required. The vpxuser password length must never be modified to less than the default length of 32 characters.

STIG	Date
VMware ESXi v5 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2013-01-15

Details

Check Text ( C-SRG-OS-99999-ESXI5-000146_chk )
The default minimum length for passwords is 14. The vpxuser password default length is 32 characters. The vpxuser password length must never be modified to less than the default length of 32 characters. From the vSphere client select "Administration >> vCenter Server Settings >> Advanced Settings". Verify the "config.vpxd.hostPasswordLength" is set to 32 or greater. Default is 32 characters. If the "config.vpxd.hostPasswordLength" setting is less than 32, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-SRG-OS-99999-ESXI5-000146_chk )

The default minimum length for passwords is 14. The vpxuser password default length is 32 characters. The vpxuser password length must never be modified to less than the default length of 32 characters. From the vSphere client select "Administration >> vCenter Server Settings >> Advanced Settings". Verify the "config.vpxd.hostPasswordLength" is set to 32 or greater. Default is 32 characters.

If the "config.vpxd.hostPasswordLength" setting is less than 32, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-SRG-OS-99999-ESXI5-000146_fix)
From the vSphere client select "Administration >> vCenter Server Settings >> Advanced Settings". Set the "config.vpxd.hostPasswordLength" to comply with site requirements. Default is 32 characters. Note that the vpxuser password is added by vCenter, meaning no manual intervention is required. The vpxuser password length must never be modified to less than the default length of 32 characters.