Limit Password Reuse

Docs > Datadog Security > OOTB Rules > Limit Password Reuse

Description

Do not allow users to reuse recent passwords. This can be accomplished by using the remember option for the pam_pwhistory PAM modules.

In the file /etc/pam.d/common-password, make sure the parameters remember and use_authtok are present, and that the value for the remember parameter is 5 or greater. For example:

password requisite pam_pwhistory.so ...existing_options... remember=5 use_authtok

The DoD STIG requirement is 5 passwords.

Rationale

Preventing re-use of previous passwords helps ensure that a compromised password is not re-used by a user.

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

declare -a VALUES=()
declare -a VALUE_NAMES=()
declare -a ARGS=()
declare -a NEW_ARGS=()
declare -a DEL_ARGS=()

var_password_pam_remember='5'

VALUES+=("$var_password_pam_remember")
VALUE_NAMES+=("remember")
ARGS+=("")
NEW_ARGS+=("")

VALUES+=("")
VALUE_NAMES+=("")
ARGS+=("use_authtok")
NEW_ARGS+=("use_authtok")


for idx in "${!VALUES[@]}"
do
    if [ -e "/etc/pam.d/common-password" ] ; then
        valueRegex="${VALUES[$idx]}" defaultValue="${VALUES[$idx]}"
        # non-empty values need to be preceded by an equals sign
        [ -n "${valueRegex}" ] && valueRegex="=${valueRegex}"
        # add an equals sign to non-empty values
        [ -n "${defaultValue}" ] && defaultValue="=${defaultValue}"

        # fix the value for 'option' if one exists but does not match 'valueRegex'
        if grep -q -P "^\\s*password\\s+requisite\\s+pam_pwhistory.so(\\s.+)?\\s+${VALUE_NAMES[$idx]}(?"'!'"${valueRegex}(\\s|\$))" < "/etc/pam.d/common-password" ; then
            sed --follow-symlinks -i -E -e "s/^(\\s*password\\s+requisite\\s+pam_pwhistory.so(\\s.+)?\\s)${VALUE_NAMES[$idx]}=[^[:space:]]*/\\1${VALUE_NAMES[$idx]}${defaultValue}/" "/etc/pam.d/common-password"

        # add 'option=default' if option is not set
        elif grep -q -E "^\\s*password\\s+requisite\\s+pam_pwhistory.so" < "/etc/pam.d/common-password" &&
                grep    -E "^\\s*password\\s+requisite\\s+pam_pwhistory.so" < "/etc/pam.d/common-password" | grep -q -E -v "\\s${VALUE_NAMES[$idx]}(=|\\s|\$)" ; then

            sed --follow-symlinks -i -E -e "s/^(\\s*password\\s+requisite\\s+pam_pwhistory.so[^\\n]*)/\\1 ${VALUE_NAMES[$idx]}${defaultValue}/" "/etc/pam.d/common-password"
        # add a new entry if none exists
        elif ! grep -q -P "^\\s*password\\s+requisite\\s+pam_pwhistory.so(\\s.+)?\\s+${VALUE_NAMES[$idx]}${valueRegex}(\\s|\$)" < "/etc/pam.d/common-password" ; then
            echo "password requisite pam_pwhistory.so ${VALUE_NAMES[$idx]}${defaultValue}" >> "/etc/pam.d/common-password"
        fi
    else
        echo "/etc/pam.d/common-password doesn't exist" >&2
    fi
done

for idx in "${!ARGS[@]}"
do
    if ! grep -q -P "^\s*password\s+requisite\s+pam_pwhistory.so.*\s+${ARGS[$idx]}\s*$" /etc/pam.d/common-password ; then
        sed --follow-symlinks -i -E -e "s/^\\s*password\\s+requisite\\s+pam_pwhistory.so.*\$/& ${NEW_ARGS[$idx]}/" /etc/pam.d/common-password
        if [ -n "${DEL_ARGS[$idx]}" ]; then
            sed --follow-symlinks -i -E -e "s/\s+${DEL_ARGS[$idx]}\S+\s+/ /g" /etc/pam.d/common-password
        fi
    fi
done

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