topic Re: Password Length in Operating System - HP-UX

Password Length

Ricky_2 — Fri, 18 Oct 2002 06:28:12 GMT

Hi, is there a way to set the min passwd length to 7 chars on a non-trusted system? Thanks.

Re: Password Length

Alex Glennie — Fri, 18 Oct 2002 06:34:04 GMT

With patch [PHCO_20334/PACHRDME/English] there was a additional parameter introduced:

MIN_PASSWORD_LENGTH

This parameter can be changed in the /etc/default/security file.

MIN_PASSWORD_LENGTH=8 means that users have to use a password with at least 8
characters. This file can be created on all 11.00 systems not only on trusted
systems. Within 11i the specific part of the manpage looks like this:

On an untrusted system, passwords of non-root users must have at
least six characters. On a trusted system, passwords of all
users must have at least six characters. This restriction on the
password length can be increased to a value larger than six.
Refer to the security(4) manual page for detailed information on
configurable parameters that affect the behavior of this command.
The parameter to select the minimum password length is

MIN_PASSWORD_LENGTH=N

This parameter controls the minimum length of new passwords.
It is not applicable to the root user on a untrusted system.

For untrusted systems N can be any value from 6 to 8.
For trusted systems N can be any value from 6 to 80.

Default value: MIN_PASSWORD_LENGTH=6

Re: Password Length

Clemens van Everdingen — Fri, 18 Oct 2002 06:34:14 GMT

Hi,

Discussions about this !

http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0x1d5d87dc4d7dd5118ff00090279cd0f9,00.html

http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0x1b970cb17a32d5118fef0090279cd0f9,00.html

C.

Re: Password Length

Michael Campbell — Fri, 18 Oct 2002 07:38:34 GMT

Ricky

You could always convert to a trusted system or if you just want to strengthen your passwords on an untrusted system you could install the PHCO_26089 patch. When this patch is installed, you can create a file called /etc/default/security which let you set things like:
MIN_PASSWORD_LENGTH
NUMBER_OF_LOGINS_ALLOWED
PASSWORD_HISTORY_DEPTH
PASSWORD_MIN_UPPER_CASE_CHARS
PASSWORD_MIN_LOWER_CASE_CHARS
PASSWORD_MIN_DIGIT_CHARS
PASSWORD_MIN_SPECIAL_CHARS

Hope This Helps

Michael