NixOS must enforce a minimum 15-character password length.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-268134 | ANIX-00-000810 | SV-268134r1039290_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 exponentially increase the time and/or resources required to compromise the password. |
| STIG | Date |
| Anduril NixOS Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2024-10-25 |
Details
| Check Text (C-72058r1039288_chk) |
| Verify NixOS enforces a minimum 15-character password length with the following command: $ grep minlen /etc/security/pwquality.conf minlen=15 If the value of "minlen" is set to less than "15", or is commented out, this is a finding. |
| Fix Text (F-71961r1039289_fix) |
| Configure NixOS to enforce password complexity. Add/modify /etc/nixos/configuration.nix to include the following lines: environment.etc."/security/pwquality.conf".text = '' minlen=15 ''; Rebuild the system with the following command: $ sudo nixos-rebuild switch |