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 until the locked account is released by an administrator when three unsuccessful logon attempts occur during a 15-minute time period.

DISA Rule

SV-230337r1134885_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-230337

Group Title

SRG-OS-000021-GPOS-00005

Rule Version

RHEL-08-020015

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 until released by an administrator when three unsuccessful logon attempts occur in 15 minutes.

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

unlock_time = 0

Check Contents

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

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

unlock_time = 0

If the "unlock_time" option is not set to "0", or is missing or commented out, this is a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-230337

Documentable

False

Rule Version

RHEL-08-020015

Severity Override Guidance

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

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

unlock_time = 0

If the "unlock_time" option is not set to "0", or is missing or commented out, this is a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

2921