AlmaLinux OS 9 must enforce password complexity rules for the root account.
An XCCDF Rule
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. Password complexity is one factor of several that determines how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password, the greater the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised.
- ID
- SV-269388r1050271_rule
- Version
- ALMA-09-036100
- Severity
- Medium
- References
- Updated
Remediation Templates
A Manual Procedure
Configure AlmaLinux OS 9 to enforce password complexity on the root account.
Add or update the following line in /etc/security/pwquality.conf:
enforce_for_root
Note: Unlike most Linux tools, pam_pwquality does not override its defaults with those in a drop-in file, so edit /etc/security/pwquality.conf and not use a file in /etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/ or comment out the setting in /etc/security/pwquality.conf if using a drop-in file.