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

RHEL 9 must ensure the password complexity module in the system-auth file is configured for three retries or less.

DISA Rule

SV-258091r1208774_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-258091

Group Title

SRG-OS-000069-GPOS-00037

Rule Version

RHEL-09-611010

Severity

CAT II

CCI(s)

• CCI-004066 - For password-based authentication, enforce organization-defined composition and complexity rules.

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

Configure RHEL 9 to limit the "pwquality" retry option to "3".

Add or update the following line in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" file or a file in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/" directory to contain the "retry" parameter:

retry = 3

Check Contents

Verify RHEL 9 is configured to limit the "pwquality" retry option to "3".

Check for the use of the retry option in the security directory with the following command:

$ grep -w retry /etc/security/pwquality.conf /etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/*.conf

retry = 3

If the value of "retry" is set to "0" or greater than "3", or is missing, this is a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-258091

Documentable

False

Rule Version

RHEL-09-611010

Severity Override Guidance

Verify RHEL 9 is configured to limit the "pwquality" retry option to "3".

Check for the use of the retry option in the security directory with the following command:

$ grep -w retry /etc/security/pwquality.conf /etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/*.conf

retry = 3

If the value of "retry" is set to "0" or greater than "3", or is missing, this is a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

5551