STIGQter: STIG Summary: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide Version: 2 Release: 8 Benchmark Date: 01 Jul 2026:

RHEL 8 must automatically lock an account when three unsuccessful logon attempts occur.

DISA Rule

SV-230333r1017145_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-230333

Group Title

SRG-OS-000021-GPOS-00005

Rule Version

RHEL-08-020011

Severity

CAT II

CCI(s)

• CCI-000044 - Enforce the organization-defined limit of consecutive invalid logon attempts by a user during the organization-defined time period.

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

Configure the operating system to lock an account when three unsuccessful logon attempts occur.

Add/Modify the "/etc/security/faillock.conf" file to match the following line:

deny = 3

Check Contents

Note: This check applies to RHEL versions 8.2 or newer, if the system is RHEL version 8.0 or 8.1, this check is not applicable.

Verify the "/etc/security/faillock.conf" file is configured to lock an account after three unsuccessful logon attempts:

$ sudo grep 'deny =' /etc/security/faillock.conf

deny = 3

If the "deny" option is not set to "3" or less (but not "0"), is missing or commented out, this is a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-230333

Documentable

False

Rule Version

RHEL-08-020011

Severity Override Guidance

Note: This check applies to RHEL versions 8.2 or newer, if the system is RHEL version 8.0 or 8.1, this check is not applicable.

Verify the "/etc/security/faillock.conf" file is configured to lock an account after three unsuccessful logon attempts:

$ sudo grep 'deny =' /etc/security/faillock.conf

deny = 3

If the "deny" option is not set to "3" or less (but not "0"), is missing or commented out, this is a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

2921