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

RHEL 9 password-auth must be configured to use a sufficient number of hashing rounds.

DISA Rule

SV-258099r1045198_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-258099

Group Title

SRG-OS-000073-GPOS-00041

Rule Version

RHEL-09-611050

Severity

CAT II

CCI(s)

• CCI-004062 - For password-based authentication, store passwords using an approved salted key derivation function, preferably using a keyed hash.
• CCI-000803 - Implement mechanisms for authentication to a cryptographic module that meet the requirements of applicable laws, Executive Orders, directives, policies, regulations, standards, and guidance for such authentication.

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

Configure RHEL 9 to use 100000 hashing rounds for hashing passwords.

Add or modify the following line in "/etc/pam.d/password-auth" and set "rounds" to "100000".

password sufficient pam_unix.so sha512 rounds=100000

Note: Running authselect will overwrite this value unless a custom authselect policy is created.

Check Contents

Verify the number of rounds for the password hashing algorithm is configured with the following command:

$ grep rounds /etc/pam.d/password-auth

password sufficient pam_unix.so sha512 rounds=100000

If a matching line is not returned or "rounds" is less than "100000", this a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-258099

Documentable

False

Rule Version

RHEL-09-611050

Severity Override Guidance

Verify the number of rounds for the password hashing algorithm is configured with the following command:

$ grep rounds /etc/pam.d/password-auth

password sufficient pam_unix.so sha512 rounds=100000

If a matching line is not returned or "rounds" is less than "100000", this a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

5551