The Photon operating system must prevent the use of dictionary words for passwords.

An XCCDF Rule

Description

<VulnDiscussion>If the operating system allows the user to select passwords based on dictionary words, then this increases the chances of password compromise by increasing the opportunity for successful guesses and brute-force attacks.</VulnDiscussion><FalsePositives></FalsePositives><FalseNegatives></FalseNegatives><Documentable>false</Documentable><Mitigations></Mitigations><SeverityOverrideGuidance></SeverityOverrideGuidance><PotentialImpacts></PotentialImpacts><ThirdPartyTools></ThirdPartyTools><MitigationControl></MitigationControl><Responsibility></Responsibility><IAControls></IAControls>

ID: SV-258853r933620_rule
Severity: Medium
References: CCI-000366
Updated: 17 days ago

Navigate to and open:

/etc/pam.d/system-password

Configure the pam_pwquality.so line to have the "dictcheck" option set to "1" as follows:
password  requisite   pam_pwquality.so  dcredit=-1 ucredit=-1 lcredit=-1 ocredit=-1 minlen=15 difok=8 enforce_for_root dictcheck=1

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.

The Photon operating system must prevent the use of dictionary words for passwords.

Description

Remediation - Manual Procedure