RHEL 8 systems, version 8.4 and above, must ensure the password complexity module is configured for three retries or less.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-251716 | RHEL-08-020104 | SV-251716r1069329_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. "pwquality" enforces complex password construction configuration and has the ability to limit brute-force attacks on the system. RHEL 8 utilizes "pwquality" as a mechanism to enforce password complexity. This is set in both: /etc/pam.d/password-auth /etc/pam.d/system-auth By limiting the number of attempts to meet the pwquality module complexity requirements before returning with an error, the system will audit abnormal attempts at password changes. |
| STIG | Date |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2025-05-14 |
Details
| Check Text (C-55153r1069267_chk) |
| Note: This requirement applies to RHEL versions 8.4 or newer. If the system is RHEL below version 8.4, this requirement is not applicable. Verify RHEL 8 is configured to limit the "pwquality" retry option to "3". Check for the use of the retry option in the security directory with the following command: $ grep -w retry /etc/security/pwquality.conf /etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/*.conf retry = 3 If the value of "retry" is set to "0" or greater than "3", or is missing, this is a finding. |
| Fix Text (F-55107r1069268_fix) |
| Configure RHEL 8 to limit the "pwquality" retry option to "3". Add or update the following line in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" file or a file in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/" directory to contain the "retry" parameter: retry = 3 |