RHEL 9 pam_unix.so module must be configured in the password-auth file to use a FIPS 140-3 approved cryptographic hashing algorithm for system authentication.
An XCCDF Rule
Description
<VulnDiscussion>Unapproved mechanisms that are used for authentication to the cryptographic module are not verified and; therefore, cannot be relied upon to provide confidentiality or integrity, and DOD data may be compromised. RHEL 9 systems utilizing encryption are required to use FIPS-compliant mechanisms for authenticating to cryptographic modules. FIPS 140-3 is the current standard for validating that mechanisms used to access cryptographic modules utilize authentication that meets DOD requirements. This allows for Security Levels 1, 2, 3, or 4 for use on a general-purpose computing system.</VulnDiscussion><FalsePositives></FalsePositives><FalseNegatives></FalseNegatives><Documentable>false</Documentable><Mitigations></Mitigations><SeverityOverrideGuidance></SeverityOverrideGuidance><PotentialImpacts></PotentialImpacts><ThirdPartyTools></ThirdPartyTools><MitigationControl></MitigationControl><Responsibility></Responsibility><IAControls></IAControls>
- ID
- SV-258233r926686_rule
- Severity
- Medium
- References
- Updated
Remediation - Manual Procedure
Configure RHEL 9 to use a FIPS 140-3 approved cryptographic hashing algorithm for system authentication.
Edit/modify the following line in the "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" file to include the sha512 option for pam_unix.so:
password sufficient pam_unix.so sha512