AlmaLinux OS 9 must maintain an account lock until the locked account is manually released by an administrator; and not automatically after a set time.

Severity
Group ID
Group Title
Version
Rule ID
Date
STIG Version
mediumV-269153SRG-OS-000329-GPOS-00128ALMA-09-008160SV-269153r1050035_rule2025-02-201
Description
By limiting the number of failed logon 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.
ℹ️ Check
Verify AlmaLinux OS 9 is configured to lock an account until released by an administrator after three unsuccessful logon attempts with the command: $ grep unlock_time /etc/security/faillock.conf unlock_time = 0 If the "unlock_time" option is not set to "0", the line is missing, or is commented out, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Configure AlmaLinux OS 9 to lock accounts until released by an administrator using pam_faillock. First, enable the feature using the following command: $ authselect enable-feature with-faillock Then, add or uncomment the following line in the "/etc/security/faillock.conf" file: unlock_time = 0