SV-204420r982200: The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that passwords for new users are restricted to a 60-day maximum lifetime. | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 STIG SCAP Benchmark

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that passwords for new users are restricted to a 60-day maximum lifetime.

Description

Discussion Text

Any password, no matter how complex, can eventually be cracked. Therefore, passwords need to be changed periodically. If the operating system does not limit the lifetime of passwords and force users to change their passwords, there is the risk that the operating system passwords could be compromised.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000199V-71929SV-86553

References

DPMS Target Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 DISA DPMS Target Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 2899

Checks

OVAL

oval:mil.disa.stig.rhel7:var:3793 ← xccdf_mil.disa.stig_value_var_accounts_maximum_age_login_defs

DISA STIG (Manual Reference)

If passwords are not being used for authentication, this is Not Applicable.

Verify the operating system enforces a 60-day maximum password lifetime restriction for new user accounts.

Check for the value of "PASS_MAX_DAYS" in "/etc/login.defs" with the following command:

# grep -i pass_max_days /etc/login.defs
PASS_MAX_DAYS 60

If the "PASS_MAX_DAYS" parameter value is not 60 or less, or is commented out, this is a finding.

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.rhel7:def:453
# The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that passwords for new users are restricted to a 60-day maximum lifetime.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_1() {
  [ "$(sed -En 's/^\s*PASS_MAX_DAYS\s+(\d+)\s*$/\1/p' '/etc/login.defs')" -le 60 ]
}

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 Definition: oval:mil.disa.stig.rhel7:def:453
if [ ! -f "/etc/login.defs" ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
if grep -q "^\\s*PASS_MAX_DAYS\\s+[0-9]*\\s*$" /etc/login.defs && awk '{print $2}' /etc/login.defs | grep -q "^[0-9]*60$"; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; else echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi

Remediation

Configure the operating system to enforce a 60-day maximum password lifetime restriction.

Add the following line in "/etc/login.defs" (or modify the line to have the required value):

PASS_MAX_DAYS     60