Ensure password hashing algorithm is SHA-512

MediumLevel 1Automatedlinux

Description

The commands below change password encryption from md5 to sha512 (a much stronger hashing algorithm). All existing accounts will need to perform a password change to upgrade the stored hashes to the new algorithm.

How it is checked

Audit method: Shell command

shell

alt0() { command -v egrep >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "step1: egrep not installed"; return 1; }; o=$(bash -c 'egrep '"'"'^password\s+required\s+pam_unix.so'"'"' /etc/pam.d/common-password' 2>&1); printf '%s\n' "$o" | tr -s ' \t' '  ' | sed 's/^ //;s/ $//' | grep -Fxq -- 'password required pam_unix.so sha512' || { echo step1: missing 'password required pam_unix.so sha512'; return 1; }; }; if alt0; then echo compliant; fi

Expected output: compliant

How it is fixed

Fix method: Guidance or infrastructure patch

Edit the /etc/pam.d/common-password file to include the sha512 option for pam_unix.so as shown: password required pam_unix.so sha512

Properties

Operating systems: sles-11
Tags: cis-convertedlinux
Reference: CIS SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 Benchmark v2.1.1 - 5.3.4

Check this host

Run this on a machine you are allowed to audit. The scan is read-only.

shell

tmaegis scan --target linux