RHEA-2004:205 - Product Enhancement Advisory

Topic

A new pam_passwdqc package is now available.

Description

The pam_passwdqc package includes a simple password strength checking module for PAM-
aware password changing programs, such as passwd. In addition to checking regular passwords,
it offers support for passphrases and can provide randomly generated passwords. All features
are optional and can be (re-)configured without rebuilding.

The pam_passwdqc package includes the pam_passwdqc.so module, which can be substituted in
place of the default pam_cracklib.so module in password-changing configurations used by PAM
when enforcement of a particular password policy is desired.

NOTE: PAM configuration files will not be modified to use pam_passwdqc if the module is
installed.

The pam_passwdqc package has been newly added to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Update 2 in
response to customer requests.

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure all previously released errata
relevant to your system have been applied.

To update all RPMs for your particular architecture, run:

rpm -Fvh [filenames]

where [filenames] is a list of the RPMs you wish to upgrade. Only those
RPMs which are currently installed will be updated. Those RPMs which are
not installed but included in the list will not be updated. Note that you
can also use wildcards (*.rpm) if your current directory *only* contains the
desired RPMs.

Please note that this update is also available via Red Hat Network. Many
people find this an easier way to apply updates. To use Red Hat Network,
launch the Red Hat Update Agent with the following command:

up2date

This will start an interactive process that will result in the appropriate
RPMs being upgraded on your system.

If up2date fails to connect to Red Hat Network due to SSL
Certificate Errors, you need to install a version of the
up2date client with an updated certificate. The latest version of
up2date is available from the Red Hat FTP site and may also be
downloaded directly from the RHN website:

https://rhn.redhat.com/help/latest-up2date.pxt

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 3 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 3 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 3 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 3 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 3 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 3 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 3 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 3 s390
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 3 ppc

Fixes

• BZ - 122792 - RFE: include pam_passwdqc

CVEs

(none)

References

• http://www.openwall.com/passwdqc/