STIG ID: UBTU-18-010100 | SRG: SRG-OS-000069-GPOS-00037 | Severity: low | CCI: | Vulnerability Id: V-219172
Use of a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks.
Password complexity is one factor of several that determines how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password, the greater the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised.
Add or update the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" file to contain the "ucredit" parameter:
ucredit=-1
Verify the Ubuntu operating system enforces password complexity by requiring that at least one upper-case character be used.
Determine if the field "ucredit" is set in the "/etc/security/pwquality.conf" file with the following command:
# grep -i "ucredit" /etc/security/pwquality.conf
ucredit=-1
If the "ucredit" parameter is greater than "-1", or is commented out, this is a finding.