Install pam_pwquality Package

Description

The libpam-pwquality package can be installed with the following command:


$ apt-get install libpam-pwquality

Rationale

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. “pwquality” enforces complex password construction configuration and has the ability to limit brute-force attacks on the system.

Remediation

Shell script

The following script can be run on the host to remediate the issue.

#!/bin/bash

# Remediation is applicable only in certain platforms
if dpkg-query --show --showformat='${db:Status-Status}\n' 'libpam-runtime' 2>/dev/null | grep -q installed; then

DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y "libpam-pwquality"

else
    >&2 echo 'Remediation is not applicable, nothing was done'
fi

Ansible playbook

The following playbook can be run with Ansible to remediate the issue.

- name: Gather the package facts
  package_facts:
    manager: auto
  tags:
  - DISA-STIG-UBTU-20-010057
  - enable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - package_pam_pwquality_installed

- name: Ensure libpam-pwquality is installed
  package:
    name: libpam-pwquality
    state: present
  when: '"libpam-runtime" in ansible_facts.packages'
  tags:
  - DISA-STIG-UBTU-20-010057
  - enable_strategy
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - package_pam_pwquality_installed