The ESXi host must be configured with a sufficiently complex password policy.
An XCCDF Rule
Description
<VulnDiscussion>To enforce the use of complex passwords, minimum numbers of characters of different classes are mandated. The use of complex passwords reduces the ability of attackers to successfully obtain valid passwords using guessing or exhaustive search techniques. Complexity requirements increase the password search space by requiring users to construct passwords from a larger character set than they may otherwise use. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000069-VMM-000360, SRG-OS-000070-VMM-000370, SRG-OS-000071-VMM-000380, SRG-OS-000072-VMM-000390, SRG-OS-000078-VMM-000450, SRG-OS-000266-VMM-000940</VulnDiscussion><FalsePositives></FalsePositives><FalseNegatives></FalseNegatives><Documentable>false</Documentable><Mitigations></Mitigations><SeverityOverrideGuidance></SeverityOverrideGuidance><PotentialImpacts></PotentialImpacts><ThirdPartyTools></ThirdPartyTools><MitigationControl></MitigationControl><Responsibility></Responsibility><IAControls></IAControls>
- ID
- SV-256397r885972_rule
- Severity
- Medium
- References
- Updated
Remediation - Manual Procedure
From the vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters.
Select the ESXi Host >> Configure >> System >> Advanced System Settings.
Click "Edit". Select the "Security.PasswordQualityControl" value and configure it to "similar=deny retry=3 min=disabled,disabled,disabled,disabled,15".