SV-281215r1166597: RHEL 10 must ensure the password complexity module is enabled in the "system-auth" file. | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 STIG SCAP Benchmark

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

RHEL 10 must ensure the password complexity module is enabled in the "system-auth" file.

Description

Discussion Text

Enabling Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM) password complexity permits enforcement of strong passwords and consequently makes the system less prone to dictionary attacks.

How this relates to the STIG checklist: STIG vs SCAP benchmark.

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-004066

References

DPMS Target Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 DISA DPMS Target Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 5733

SCC Automation Reference

The reconstructed evaluation script behind this rule's OVAL check(s) — every module a compound check combines, with this rule's own concrete values and DISA's SCC tool's real per-module mechanism curated from static teardown of SCC releases.

#!/bin/bash
# Reconstructed from oval:mil.disa.stig.rhel10os:def:281215
# RHEL 10 must ensure the password complexity module is enabled in the "system-auth" file.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# system-auth pam_pwquality
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_1() {
  (sed -En 's/^\s*password\s+(?:required|requisite)\s+(.*)$/\1/p' '/etc/pam.d/system-auth') | grep -Pq '^pam_pwquality.so(\s|$)'
}

if test_1; then
  echo "PASS"
else
  echo "FAIL"
fi

Assessment Script Powered by AISandbox-executed

A standalone Shell script to assess this control automatically. Review before running it in your environment.

Syntax-checked and actually executed in an isolated sandbox (not the real system this checks) — confirmed to run without errors.

#!/bin/sh
# oval:mil.disa.stig.rhel10os:def:281215
if [ ! -f "/etc/pam.d/system-auth" ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
if grep -q "^pam_pwquality.so(\\s|$)" /etc/pam.d/system-auth; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; else echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi

Remediation

Configure RHEL 10 to use "pwquality" to enforce password complexity rules.

Add the following line to the "/etc/pam.d/system-auth" file (or modify the line to have the required value):

password required pam_pwquality.so