Vulnerability Discussion

By limiting the number of failed login attempts, the risk of unauthorized system access via user password guessing, otherwise known as brute-force attacks, is reduced. Limits are imposed by locking the account.

Satisfies: SRG-OS-000329-GPOS-00128, SRG-OS-000021-GPOS-00005

Check

Verify RHEL 10 is configured to lock an account after three unsuccessful login attempts with the following command:

$ sudo grep 'deny =' /etc/security/faillock.conf
deny = 3

If the "deny" option is not set to "3" or less (but not "0"), or is missing or commented out, this is a finding.

Fix

Configure RHEL 10 to lock an account when three unsuccessful login attempts occur.

Add/modify the "/etc/security/faillock.conf" file to match the following line:

deny = 3