IBM RACF PASSWORD(RULEn) SETROPTS value(s) must be properly set.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-223724	SRG-OS-000069-GPOS-00037	RACF-ES-000770	SV-223724r998347_rule	2025-03-11	9

Description
The shorter the password, the lower the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password length is one factor of several that helps to determine strength and how long it takes to crack a password. Use of more characters in a password helps to exponentially increase the time and/or resources required to compromise the password. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000069-GPOS-00037, SRG-OS-000078-GPOS-00046

Description

The shorter the password, the lower the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password length is one factor of several that helps to determine strength and how long it takes to crack a password. Use of more characters in a password helps to exponentially increase the time and/or resources required to compromise the password. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000069-GPOS-00037, SRG-OS-000078-GPOS-00046

ℹ️ Check
From the ISPF Command Shell enter: SETRopts If the following options are specified, this is not a finding. Every PASSWORD(RULE) under "INSTALLATION PASSWORD SYNTAX RULES" is defined with the values shown below: RULE n LENGTH(8) xxxxxxxx The following options are in effect under "PASSWORD PROCESSING OPTIONS": "MIXED CASE PASSWORD SUPPORT IS IN EFFECT" "SPECIAL CHARACTERS ARE ALLOWED."

✔️ Fix
Evaluate the impact associated with implementation of the control option. Develop a plan of action to implement the control option as specified in the example below: For z/OS release 1.13 and 1.14 PTF UA90720 must be applied. For z/OS Release 2.1 PTF UA90721 must be applied. The RACF Command SETR LIST will show the status of RACF Controls including PASSWORD SYNTAX RULEs. Setting the password syntax to all Mixed Case Alphanumeric and Special Characters is activated with the commands: setr password(mixedcase) setr password(specialchars) setr password(rulen(length(8) mixedall(1:8))

✔️ Fix

Evaluate the impact associated with implementation of the control option. Develop a plan of action to implement the control option as specified in the example below: For z/OS release 1.13 and 1.14 PTF UA90720 must be applied. For z/OS Release 2.1 PTF UA90721 must be applied. The RACF Command SETR LIST will show the status of RACF Controls including PASSWORD SYNTAX RULEs. Setting the password syntax to all Mixed Case Alphanumeric and Special Characters is activated with the commands: setr password(mixedcase) setr password(specialchars) setr password(rulen(length(8) mixedall(1:8))