BaselineWatch
Desk

RHEL-10-600320 RHEL 10 must prevent the use of dictionary words for passwords.

DISA STIG library V1R3
All changes in this version
first version loaded CAT II

Maps to IA-5(1) via CCI-004066

Title

RHEL 10 must prevent the use of dictionary words for passwords.

Control

Verify RHEL 10 prevents the use of dictionary words for passwords with the following command: $ sudo grep -s dictcheck /etc/security/pwquality.conf /etc/pwquality.conf.d/*.conf /etc/security/pwquality.conf:dictcheck=1 If "dictcheck" does not have a value other than "0" or is commented out, this is a finding.

Discussion

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. If RHEL 10 allows the user to select passwords based on dictionary words, this increases the chances of password compromise by increasing the opportunity for successful guesses and brute-force attacks. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00225, SRG-OS-000072-GPOS-00040

Related controls

CCI-004066

Fix

Configure RHEL 10 to prevent the use of dictionary words for passwords. Add or update the following line in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" file or a configuration file in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/" directory to contain the "dictcheck" parameter: dictcheck=1