---
title: "HOST-PAM-001 Password Quality Module Not Enforced"
canonical: https://openvapt.com/checks/HOST-PAM-001.html
html: https://openvapt.com/checks/HOST-PAM-001.html
site: OpenVAPT, https://openvapt.com/
license: OpenVAPT Source-Available Licence 1.3, https://openvapt.com/legal/licence-text.html
modified: 2026-10-14
version: 0.1.0-alpha.6
---

# HOST-PAM-001 Password Quality Module Not Enforced

Checks that new passwords pass through pam_pwquality with its dictionary check on, so dictionary words and user-name variants are rejected.

- Domain: Server
- Severity: Low
- Control category: Identity and Authentication
- Fix effort: low
- CVSS v3.1 vector: `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N`
- CIS Controls v8: 5.2
- NIST CSF 2.0: PR.AA-01
- CWE: CWE-521
- OWASP Top 10 2021: A07:2021
- NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5: IA-5(1)
- Benchmark topic: Password creation requirements enforced through PAM (CIS Controls v8 5.2) (topic only, no benchmark text)

## Why It Matters

NIST SP 800-63B-4 asks verifiers to reject passwords found in dictionaries and blocklists rather than to impose composition rules. pam_pwquality does that work on Linux, but only when the password stack actually calls it and its dictcheck and usercheck options are not switched off. A minlen in pwquality.conf (HOST-PWD-003) does nothing if the module is never invoked.

## How It Detects

Reads /etc/pam.d/common-password, /etc/pam.d/system-auth and /etc/pam.d/password-auth for an active pam_pwquality (or pam_passwdqc or pam_cracklib) line, then reads dictcheck, usercheck and enforcing from /etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/*.conf and /etc/security/pwquality.conf and from the module line. A missing module, dictcheck=0, usercheck=0 or enforcing=0 fails. Skipped when no password stack exists; Incomplete when one exists but cannot be read.

## How to Fix

Install libpam-pwquality (Debian/Ubuntu) or libpwquality (RHEL family). Make sure the password stack has  password requisite pam_pwquality.so retry=3  before pam_unix (pam-auth-update or authselect enable-feature with-pwquality), and in /etc/security/pwquality.conf keep  dictcheck = 1  and  usercheck = 1 . Pair it with a breached-password blocklist where possible. Keep a root session open and test a login and a password change in a second session before closing it: a wrong PAM line can lock every user out.

## How to Verify

```
grep pam_pwquality /etc/pam.d/common-password /etc/pam.d/system-auth 2>/dev/null; grep -rE '^(dictcheck|usercheck|enforcing)' /etc/security/pwquality.conf /etc/security/pwquality.conf.d/
```

## Learn the Theory

- [P22 Authentication Policy and Package Hygiene](https://openvapt.com/academy/p22.md)

## References

- [pwquality.conf(5), libpwquality, Debian trixie manual pages](https://manpages.debian.org/trixie/libpwquality-common/pwquality.conf.5.en.html)
- [NIST SP 800-63B-4, Digital Identity Guidelines: Authentication and Authenticator Management](https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/sp800-63b.html)

## Source Code

https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt/blob/574f7f3333c44b75a3c649e2d93a76d507f75adf/internal/checks/host/pam_login.go

Run it: `openvapt scan --only HOST-PAM-001`. Read it offline: `openvapt explain HOST-PAM-001`.

---

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