DISA STIGS Viewer

OL 9 must prevent the use of dictionary words for passwords.

Overview

Finding ID Version Rule ID IA Controls Severity
V-271637 OL09-00-001125 SV-271637r1091623_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. If OL 9 allows the user to select passwords based on dictionary words, this increases the chances of password compromise by increasing the opportunity for successful guesses, and brute-force attacks.
STIG Date
Oracle Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide 2025-05-08

Details

Check Text (C-75687r1091621_chk)
Verify that OL 9 prevents the use of dictionary words for passwords with the following command:

$ grep dictcheck /etc/security/pwquality.conf /etc/pwquality.conf.d/*.conf
/etc/security/pwquality.conf:dictcheck=1

If "dictcheck" does not have a value other than "0", or is commented out, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-75594r1091622_fix)
Configure OL 9 to prevent the use of dictionary words for passwords.

Add or update the following line in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" file or a configuration file in the /etc/pwquality.conf.d/ directory to contain the "dictcheck" parameter:

dictcheck=1