The Photon operating system must require that new passwords are at least four characters different from the old password.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-256501	PHTN-30-000024	SV-256501r887177_rule		Medium

Description
Use of a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks.

STIG	Date
VMware vSphere 7.0 vCenter Appliance Photon OS Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-12-01

Details

Check Text ( C-60176r887175_chk )
At the command line, run the following command: # grep pam_cracklib /etc/pam.d/system-password\|grep --color=always "difok=." Expected result: 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 If the output does not include difok >= 4, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-60119r887176_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-60119r887176_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.