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RHEL-09-611125 RHEL 9 must require the maximum number of repeating characters be limited to three when passwords are changed.

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

Maps to IA-5(1) via CCI-004066, CCI-000195

Title

RHEL 9 must require the maximum number of repeating characters be limited to three when passwords are changed.

Control

Verify that RHEL 9 requires that passwords can have a maximum of three of the same consecutive character. $ grep maxrepeat /etc/security/pwquality.conf /etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/*.conf maxrepeat = 3 If the value of "maxrepeat" is set to more than "3", 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. Password complexity is one factor of several that determines how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex a password, the greater the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised.

Related controls

CCI-000195, CCI-004066

Fix

Configure RHEL 9 to require the change of the number of repeating consecutive characters when passwords are changed by setting the "maxrepeat" option. 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 "maxrepeat" parameter: maxrepeat = 3