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

RHEL 8 must configure the use of the pam_faillock.so module in the /etc/pam.d/password-auth file.

DISA Rule

SV-244534r1069319_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-244534

Group Title

SRG-OS-000021-GPOS-00005

Rule Version

RHEL-08-020026

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 include the use of the pam_faillock.so module in the /etc/pam.d/password-auth file.

Add/Modify the appropriate sections of the "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" file to match the following lines:
Note: The "preauth" line must be listed before pam_unix.so.

auth required pam_faillock.so preauth
auth required pam_faillock.so authfail
account required pam_faillock.so

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 pam_faillock.so module is present and is listed before the pam.unix.so line in the "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" file:
Note: The first field in the output is the line number of the entry

$ sudo grep -E -n 'pam_faillock.so|pam_unix.so' /etc/pam.d/password-auth

7:auth required pam_faillock.so preauth silent
11:auth sufficient pam_unix.so
15:auth required pam_faillock.so authfail
19:account required pam_faillock.so
20:account required pam_unix.so
31:password sufficient pam_unix.so sha512 shadow use_authtok
40:session required pam_unix.so

If the pam_faillock.so module is not present in the "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" file with the "preauth" line listed before pam_unix.so, this is a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-244534

Documentable

False

Rule Version

RHEL-08-020026

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 pam_faillock.so module is present and is listed before the pam.unix.so line in the "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" file:
Note: The first field in the output is the line number of the entry

$ sudo grep -E -n 'pam_faillock.so|pam_unix.so' /etc/pam.d/password-auth

7:auth required pam_faillock.so preauth silent
11:auth sufficient pam_unix.so
15:auth required pam_faillock.so authfail
19:account required pam_faillock.so
20:account required pam_unix.so
31:password sufficient pam_unix.so sha512 shadow use_authtok
40:session required pam_unix.so

If the pam_faillock.so module is not present in the "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" file with the "preauth" line listed before pam_unix.so, this is a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

2921