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AlmaLinux OS 9 passwords for new users must have a minimum of 15 characters.

An XCCDF Rule

Description

The shorter the password, the lower the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password length is one factor of several that helps to determine strength and how long it takes to crack a password. Use of more characters in a password helps to exponentially increase the time and/or resources required to compromise the password. The shorter the password, the lower the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password length is one factor of several that helps to determine strength and how long it takes to crack a password. Use of more characters in a password helps to exponentially increase the time and/or resources required to compromise the password.

ID
SV-269391r1050274_rule
Version
ALMA-09-036430
Severity
Medium
References
Updated

Remediation Templates

A Manual Procedure

Configure AlmaLinux OS 9 to enforce a minimum 15-character password length for new user accounts.

Modify the "/etc/login.defs" file to set the "PASS_MIN_LEN" parameter to 15 or greater:

PASS_MIN_LEN 15