The Photon operating system must persist lockouts between system reboots.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-258862 | PHTN-40-000196 | SV-258862r1003649_rule | Medium |
| Description |
| By limiting the number of failed logon 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. By default, account lockout information is stored under /var/run/faillock and is not persistent between reboots. |
| STIG | Date |
| VMware vSphere 8.0 vCenter Appliance Photon OS 4.0 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2024-07-11 |
Details
| Check Text (C-62602r1003648_chk) |
| At the command line, run the following command to verify account locking persists lockouts between system reboots # grep '^dir' /etc/security/faillock.conf Example result: dir = /var/log/faillock If the "dir" option is set to "/var/run/faillock", this is a finding. If the "dir" option is not set to a persistent documented faillock directory, is missing or commented out, this is a finding. Note: If faillock.conf is not used to configure pam_faillock.so, these options may be specified on the faillock lines in the system-auth and system-account files. |
| Fix Text (F-62511r933646_fix) |
| Navigate to and open: /etc/security/faillock.conf Add or update the following lines: dir = /var/log/faillock Note: On vCenter appliances, the equivalent file must be edited under "/etc/applmgmt/appliance", if one exists, for the changes to persist after a reboot. |