The Photon operating system must use the "pam

The Photon operating system must use the "pam_cracklib" module.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-256541	PHTN-30-000071	SV-256541r887297_rule		Medium

Description
If the operating system allows the user to select passwords based on dictionary words, this increases the chances of password compromise by increasing the opportunity for successful guesses and brute-force attacks.

STIG	Date
VMware vSphere 7.0 vCenter Appliance Photon OS Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-02-21

Details

Check Text ( C-60216r887295_chk )
At the command line, run the following command: # grep pam_cracklib /etc/pam.d/system-password If the output does not return at least "password requisite pam_cracklib.so", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-60159r887296_fix)
Navigate to and open: /etc/pam.d/system-password Add the following, replacing any existing "pam_cracklib.so" line: password requisite pam_cracklib.so dcredit=-1 ucredit=-1 lcredit=-1 ocredit=-1 minlen=8 minclass=4 difok=4 retry=3 maxsequence=0 enforce_for_root Note: On vCenter appliances, the equivalent file must be edited under "/etc/applmgmt/appliance", if one exists, for the changes to persist after a reboot.

Fix Text (F-60159r887296_fix)

Navigate to and open:

/etc/pam.d/system-password

Add the following, replacing any existing "pam_cracklib.so" line:

password requisite pam_cracklib.so dcredit=-1 ucredit=-1 lcredit=-1 ocredit=-1 minlen=8 minclass=4 difok=4 retry=3 maxsequence=0 enforce_for_root

Note: On vCenter appliances, the equivalent file must be edited under "/etc/applmgmt/appliance", if one exists, for the changes to persist after a reboot.