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RHEL-09-611105 RHEL 9 must prevent the use of dictionary words for passwords.

DISA STIG library V2R10
All changes in this version
first version loaded CAT II

Maps to CM-6 via CCI-000366

Title

RHEL 9 must prevent the use of dictionary words for passwords.

Control

Verify RHEL 9 prevents the use of dictionary words for passwords with the following command: $ grep dictcheck /etc/security/pwquality.conf /etc/security/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 9 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.

Related controls

CCI-000366

Fix

Configure RHEL 9 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