Details

The system must use a strong hashing algorithm to store the password. The system must use a sufficient number of hashing rounds to ensure the required level of entropy.

Passwords need to be protected at all times, and encryption is the standard method for protecting passwords. If passwords are not encrypted, they can be plainly read (i.e., clear text) and easily compromised.

Satisfies: SRG-OS-000073-GPOS-00041, SRG-OS-000120-GPOS-00061

Solution

Configure the Ubuntu operating system to encrypt all stored passwords with a strong cryptographic hash.

Edit/modify the following line in the ‘/etc/pam.d/common-password’ file and set ’rounds’ to a value no lower than ‘5000’:

password [success=1 default=ignore] pam_unix.so obscure sha512 rounds=5000

Supportive Information

The following resource is also helpful.

• https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_CAN_Ubuntu_16-04_LTS_V2R3_STIG.zip

This security hardening control applies to the following category of controls within NIST 800-53: Identification and Authentication.This control applies to the following type of system Unix.

References

• 800-53|IA-5(1)(c)
• 800-53|IA-7
• CAT|II
• CCI|CCI-000196
• CCI|CCI-000803
• Rule-ID|SV-214956r610931_rule
• STIG-ID|UBTU-16-010170
• STIG-Legacy|SV-90143
• STIG-Legacy|V-75463
• Vuln-ID|V-214956

Source

• Tenable.com/audits