The IBM z/OS operating system must enforce a minimum eight-character password length.
An XCCDF Rule
Description
<VulnDiscussion>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.</VulnDiscussion><FalsePositives></FalsePositives><FalseNegatives></FalseNegatives><Documentable>false</Documentable><Mitigations></Mitigations><SeverityOverrideGuidance></SeverityOverrideGuidance><PotentialImpacts></PotentialImpacts><ThirdPartyTools></ThirdPartyTools><MitigationControl></MitigationControl><Responsibility></Responsibility><IAControls></IAControls>
- ID
- SV-223892r877733_rule
- Severity
- Medium
- References
- Updated
Remediation - Manual Procedure
Evaluate the impact associated with implementation of the control option. Develop a plan of action to implement the control option setting as specified and proceed with the change.
(Support of mixed case passwords can only be set when the security file has been copied by TSSXTEND with the option NEWPWBLOCK.)
Configure the NEWPW Control Option values to conform to the following requirements: