SV-258097r1045193: RHEL 9 must ensure the password complexity module is enabled in the password-auth file. | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 STIG SCAP Benchmark

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

RHEL 9 must ensure the password complexity module is enabled in the password-auth file.

Description

Discussion Text

Enabling PAM password complexity permits enforcement of strong passwords and consequently makes the system less prone to dictionary attacks. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000069-GPOS-00037, SRG-OS-000070-GPOS-00038, SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-004066Not mappedCCI-000192Not mappedCCI-000193

References

DPMS Target Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 DISA DPMS Target Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 5551

Checks

DISA STIG (Manual Reference)

Verify RHEL 9 uses "pwquality" to enforce the password complexity rules in the password-auth file with the following command:

$ grep pam_pwquality /etc/pam.d/password-auth

password required pam_pwquality.so 

If the command does not return a line containing the value "pam_pwquality.so", or the line is commented out, this is a finding.

If the system administrator (SA) can demonstrate that the required configuration is contained in a PAM configuration file included or substacked from the system-auth file, this is not 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.rhel9os:def:258097
# RHEL 9 must ensure the password complexity module is enabled in the password-auth file.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# The pam_pwquality module is included in password-auth.
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_1() {
  grep -Pq '^\s*password\s+(?:required|requisite)\s+pam_pwquality\.so\b' '/etc/pam.d/password-auth' &>/dev/null
}

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.rhel9os:def:258097

FILE="/etc/pam.d/password-auth"
PATTERN="^\\s*password\\s+required\\s+pam_pwquality\\.so\\b"

if [ ! -f "$FILE" ]; then
  echo "PASS"
  exit 0
fi

if grep -q "$PATTERN" "$FILE" && grep -c "$PATTERN" "$FILE" -ge 1; then
  echo "PASS"
  exit 0
else
  echo "FAIL"
  exit 1
fi

Remediation

Configure RHEL 9 to use "pwquality" to enforce password complexity rules.

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

password required pam_pwquality.so