OL 9 must require the change of at least eight characters when passwords are changed.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-271617 | OL09-00-001025 | SV-271617r1091563_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. Requiring a minimum number of different characters during password changes ensures that newly changed passwords will not resemble previously compromised ones. Note that passwords changed on compromised systems will still be compromised. |
| STIG | Date |
| Oracle Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2025-05-08 |
Details
| Check Text (C-75667r1091561_chk) |
| Verify that OL 9 requires the change of at least eight characters when passwords are changed. Verify the value of the "difok" option in "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" with the following command: $ grep difok /etc/security/pwquality.conf /etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/*.conf difok = 8 If the value of "difok" is set to less than "8", or is commented out, this is a finding. |
| Fix Text (F-75574r1091562_fix) |
| Configure OL 9 to require the change of at least eight of the total number of characters when passwords are changed by setting the "difok" option. Add the following line to "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" (or modify the line to have the required value): difok = 8 |