STIGQter 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 is enabled in the system-auth file.

DISA Rule

SV-258098r1045195_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-258098

Group Title

SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227

Rule Version

RHEL-09-611045

Severity

CAT II

CCI(s)

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

Configure RHEL 9 to use "pwquality" to enforce password complexity rules.

Add the following line to the "/etc/pam.d/system-auth" file(or modify the line to have the required value):

password required pam_pwquality.so

Check Contents

Verify RHEL 9 uses "pwquality" to enforce the password complexity rules in the system-auth file with the following command:

$ grep pam_pwquality /etc/pam.d/system-auth

password required pam_pwquality.so

If the command does not return a line containing the value "pam_pwquality.so", or the line is commented out, this is a finding.

If the system administrator (SA) can demonstrate that the required configuration is contained in a PAM configuration file included or substacked from the system-auth file, this is not a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-258098

Documentable

False

Rule Version

RHEL-09-611045

Severity Override Guidance

Verify RHEL 9 uses "pwquality" to enforce the password complexity rules in the system-auth file with the following command:

$ grep pam_pwquality /etc/pam.d/system-auth

password required pam_pwquality.so

If the command does not return a line containing the value "pam_pwquality.so", or the line is commented out, this is a finding.

If the system administrator (SA) can demonstrate that the required configuration is contained in a PAM configuration file included or substacked from the system-auth file, this is not a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

5551