STIGQter: STIG Summary: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide Version: 2 Release: 9 Benchmark Date: 01 Jul 2026:

RHEL 9 must automatically lock an account when three unsuccessful logon attempts occur.

DISA Rule

SV-258054r958736_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-258054

Group Title

SRG-OS-000329-GPOS-00128

Rule Version

RHEL-09-411075

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.
• CCI-002238 - Automatically lock the account or node for either an organization-defined time period, until the locked account or node is released by an administrator, or delays the next logon prompt according to the organization-defined delay algorithm when the maximum number of unsuccessful logon attempts is exceeded.

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

Configure RHEL 9 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

Verify RHEL 9 is configured to lock an account after three unsuccessful logon attempts with the command:

$ 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-258054

Documentable

False

Rule Version

RHEL-09-411075

Severity Override Guidance

Verify RHEL 9 is configured to lock an account after three unsuccessful logon attempts with the command:

$ 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

5551