STIGQter: STIG Summary: IBM AIX 7.x Security Technical Implementation Guide Version: 2 Release: 2 Benchmark Date: 23 Apr 2021:

AIX must enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one special character be used.

DISA Rule

SV-215227r508663_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-215227

Group Title

SRG-OS-000266-GPOS-00101

Rule Version

AIX7-00-001130

Severity

CAT II

CCI(s)

• CCI-001619 - The information system enforces password complexity by the minimum number of special characters used.

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

From the command prompt, run the following command to set "minspecialchar=1" for the default stanza in "/etc/security/user":
# chsec -f /etc/security/user -s default -a minspecialchar=1

Run the following command to re-check "minspecialchar" values for all users:
# lsuser -a minspecialchar ALL

For each user who has "minspecialchar=0", set its "minspecialchar" to "1" by running the following command from command prompt:
# chsec -f /etc/security/user -s [user_name] -a minspecialchar=1

Check Contents

Run the following command to check the system default value for "minspecialchar" attribute:
# lssec -f /etc/security/user -s default -a minspecialchar

The above command should yield the following output:
default minspecialchar=0

If the default value is "0", or the default value is empty, this is a finding.

From the command prompt, run the following command to check "minspecialchar" attribute value for all accounts:
# lsuser -a minspecialchar ALL

The above command should yield the following output:
root minspecialchar=1
user1 minspecialchar=1
user2 minspecialchar=2
user3 minspecialchar=1

If any account has "minspecialchar=0", or the "minspecialchar" value is not set, this is a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-215227

Documentable

False

Rule Version

AIX7-00-001130

Severity Override Guidance

Run the following command to check the system default value for "minspecialchar" attribute:
# lssec -f /etc/security/user -s default -a minspecialchar

The above command should yield the following output:
default minspecialchar=0

If the default value is "0", or the default value is empty, this is a finding.

From the command prompt, run the following command to check "minspecialchar" attribute value for all accounts:
# lsuser -a minspecialchar ALL

The above command should yield the following output:
root minspecialchar=1
user1 minspecialchar=1
user2 minspecialchar=2
user3 minspecialchar=1

If any account has "minspecialchar=0", or the "minspecialchar" value is not set, this is a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

4012

Comments