Nobody has seemed to respond to this. But this is an issue.
In /etc/login.defs, I have PASS_MIN_LEN set to 14, yet as a user, I can set the following
password 56tyghbn%^TY which only has 12 characters via the passwd command.
Is this a bug in RHEL6, or should this be defined in /etc/pam.d/system-auth in addition to
or in place of /etc/login.defs?
It does enforce the setting properly if defined in /etc/pam.d/system-auth.
Best regards,
Trey Henefield, CISSP
Senior IAVA Engineer
Ultra Electronics
Advanced Tactical Systems, Inc.
4101 Smith School Road
Building IV, Suite 100
Austin, TX 78744 USA
Trey.Henefield(a)ultra-ats.com
Tel: +1 512 327 6795 ext. 647
Fax: +1 512 327 8043
Mobile: +1 512 541 6450
www.ultra-ats.com
From: scap-security-guide-bounces(a)lists.fedorahosted.org
[mailto:scap-security-guide-bounces@lists.fedorahosted.org] On Behalf Of Trey Henefield
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 9:22 AM
To: scap-security-guide(a)lists.fedorahosted.org
Subject: Minimum Password Length ...
I had noticed that the RHEL6 SSG and RHEL6 STIG both require checking /etc/login.defs for
the password minimum length parameter 'PASS_MIN_LEN'.
This differs from the RHEL5 STIG in which it requires it being configured via the
'minlen' parameter for cracklib.so within /etc/pam.d/system-auth.
Furthermore, the RHEL5 manpage indicates the enforcement of /etc/login.defs, as it relates
to passwords, as being deprecated. However, this is not indicated in the same manpage in
RHEL6.
"Much of the functionality that used to be provided by the shadow password suite is
now handled by PAM. Thus, /etc/login.defs is no longer used by programs such as: login(1),
passwd(1), su(1). Please refer to the corresponding PAM configuration files
instead."
So I decided to test this to see if RHEL6 is actually enforcing the 'PASS_MIN_LEN'
parameter in /etc/login.defs, and it is not. I have it set to 14 and I was able to
configure a password with 12 characters.
So shouldn't this be changed to reflect how this is configured in RHEL5, or am I
missing something?
Best regards,
Trey Henefield, CISSP
Senior IAVA Engineer
Ultra Electronics
Advanced Tactical Systems, Inc.
4101 Smith School Road
Building IV, Suite 100
Austin, TX 78744 USA
Trey.Henefield@ultra-ats.com<mailto:Trey.Henefield@ultra-ats.com>
Tel: +1 512 327 6795 ext. 647
Fax: +1 512 327 8043
Mobile: +1 512 541 6450
www.ultra-ats.com<http://www.ultra-ats.com>
Disclaimer
The information contained in this communication from
trey.henefield@ultra-ats.com<mailto:trey.henefield@ultra-ats.com> sent at 2014-02-26
10:22:15 is private and may be legally privileged or export controlled. It is intended
solely for use by
scap-security-guide@lists.fedorahosted.org<mailto:scap-security-guide@lists.fedorahosted.org>
and others authorized to receive it. If you are not
scap-security-guide@lists.fedorahosted.org<mailto:scap-security-guide@lists.fedorahosted.org>
you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking action in
reliance of the contents of this information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.