AIX must enforce the limit of three consecutive invalid login attempts by a user before the user account is locked and released by an administrator.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-215171 | AIX7-00-001003 | SV-215171r958388_rule | Medium |
| Description |
| By limiting the number of failed login attempts, the risk of unauthorized system access via user password guessing, otherwise known as brute-force attacks, is reduced. Limits are imposed by locking the account. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000021-GPOS-00005, SRG-OS-000329-GPOS-00128 |
| STIG | Date |
| IBM AIX 7.x Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2024-08-16 |
Details
| Check Text (C-16369r293964_chk) |
| From the command prompt, execute the following command to check the system default value for the maximum number of tries before the system will lock the account: # lssec -f /etc/security/user -s default -a loginretries The above command should yield the following output: default loginretries=0 If the default value is "0" or greater than "3", this is a finding. From the command prompt, execute the following command to check all active accounts on the system for the maximum number of tries before the system will lock the account: # lsuser -a loginretries ALL | more The above command should yield the following output: root loginretries=3 user1 loginretries=2 If a user has values set to "0" or greater than "3", this is a finding. |
| Fix Text (F-16367r293965_fix) |
| From the command prompt, execute the following command to configure the number of unsuccessful logins resulting in account lockout for "default:" stanza in "/etc/security/user" file: # chsec -f /etc/security/user -s default -a loginretries=3 From the command prompt, execute the following command to configure the number of unsuccessful logins resulting in account lockout for all users who have loginretries values that are 0 or greater than 3: # chsec -f /etc/security/user -s [user_name] -a loginretries=3 |