SV-230233r1044790: The RHEL 8 shadow password suite must be configured to use a sufficient number of hashing rounds. | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 STIG SCAP Benchmark

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

The RHEL 8 shadow password suite must be configured to use a sufficient number of hashing rounds.

Description

Discussion Text

The system must use a strong hashing algorithm to store the password. The system must use a sufficient number of hashing rounds to ensure the required level of entropy. Passwords need to be protected at all times, and encryption is the standard method for protecting passwords. If passwords are not encrypted, they can be plainly read (i.e., clear text) and easily compromised.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000196Not mappedCCI-004062

References

DPMS Target Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 DISA DPMS Target Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 2921

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.rhel8os:def:230233
# The RHEL 8 shadow password suite must be configured to use a sufficient number of hashing rounds.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# /etc/login.defs: SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS, if set, is set to 100000 or greater
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_1() {
  [ "$(sed -En 's/^\s*SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS\s+(\d+)\b/\1/p' '/etc/login.defs')" -ge 100000 ]
}
# /etc/login.defs: SHA_CRYPT_MAX_ROUNDS, if set, is set to 100000 or greater
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_2() {
  [ "$(sed -En 's/^\s*SHA_CRYPT_MAX_ROUNDS\s+(\d+)\b/\1/p' '/etc/login.defs')" -ge 100000 ]
}
# /etc/login.defs: SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS is set
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_3() {
  grep -Pq '^\s*SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS\s+(\d+)\b' '/etc/login.defs' &>/dev/null
}
# /etc/login.defs: SHA_CRYPT_MAX_ROUNDS is set
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_4() {
  grep -Pq '^\s*SHA_CRYPT_MAX_ROUNDS\s+(\d+)\b' '/etc/login.defs' &>/dev/null
}

if ( test_1 && test_2 && ( test_3 || test_4 ) ); 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.rhel8os:def:230233
if [ ! -f "/etc/login.defs" ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
if [ $(grep -E "^\\s*SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS\\s+(\\d+)\\b" /etc/login.defs | awk '{print $2}' | sort -nr | head -n1) -ge 100000 ] && \
   [ $(grep -E "^\\s*SHA_CRYPT_MAX_ROUNDS\\s+(\\d+)\\b" /etc/login.defs | awk '{print $2}' | sort -nr | head -n1) -ge 100000 ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
echo "FAIL"; exit 1

Remediation

Configure RHEL 8 to encrypt all stored passwords with a strong cryptographic hash.

Edit/modify the following line in the "/etc/login.defs" file and set "SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS" to a value no lower than "100000":

SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS 100000