DISA STIGS Viewer

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-269388	ALMA-09-036100	SV-269388r1050271_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. Password complexity is one factor of several that determines how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password, the greater the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised.

STIG	Date
CloudLinux AlmaLinux OS 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2025-05-22

Check Text (C-73419r1049604_chk)

Verify that AlmaLinux OS 9 enforces password complexity rules for the root account. Check if root user is required to use complex passwords with the following command: $ grep enforce_for_root /etc/security/pwquality.conf /etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/*.conf /etc/security/pwquality.conf:# enforce_for_root /etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/stig.conf:enforce_for_root If "enforce_for_root" is commented or missing, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-73320r1049605_fix)

Configure AlmaLinux OS 9 to enforce password complexity on the root account. Add or update the following line in /etc/security/pwquality.conf: enforce_for_root Note: Unlike most Linux tools, pam_pwquality does not override its defaults with those in a drop-in file, so edit /etc/security/pwquality.conf and not use a file in /etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/ or comment out the setting in /etc/security/pwquality.conf if using a drop-in file.