pam_passwdqc 1.0.2

pam_passwdqc is 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 ones. All features are optional and can be (re-)configured without rebuilding. This module should be stacked before your usual password changing module (such as pam_unix or pam_pwdb) in the password management group (the "password" lines in /etc/pam.d/passwd or /etc/pam.conf). The password changing module should then be told to use the provided new authentication token (new password) rather than request it from the user. Theres usually the "use_authtok" option to do that. If your password changing module lacks the "use_authtok" option or its prompts are inconsistent with pam_passwdqcs, you may tell pam_passwdqc to ask for the old password as well, with "ask_oldauthtok". In that case the option to use with the password changing module is "use_first_pass". Theres a number of supported options which can be used to modify the behavior of pam_passwdqc (defaults are given in square brackets): min=N0,N1,N2,N3,N4 [min=disabled,24,12,8,7] The minimum allowed password lengths for different kinds of passwords and passphrases. The keyword "disabled" can be used to disallow passwords of a given kind regardless of their length. Each subsequent number is required to be no larger than the preceding one. N0 is used for passwords consisting of characters from one character class only. The character classes are: digits, lower-case letters, upper-case letters, and other characters. There is also a special class for non-ASCII characters which could not be classified, but are assumed to be non-digits. N1 is used for passwords consisting of characters from two character classes which do not meet the requirements for a passphrase. N2 is used for passphrases. A passphrase must consist of sufficient words (see the "passphrase" option below). N3 and N4 are used for passwords consisting of characters from three and four character classes, respectively. When calculating the number of character classes, upper-case letters used as the first character and digits used as the last character of a password are not counted. In addition to being sufficiently long, passwords are required to contain enough different characters for the character classes and the minimum length they have been checked against. max=N [max=40] The maximum allowed password length. This can be used to prevent users from setting passwords which may be too long for some system services. The value 8 is treated specially: with max=8, passwords longer than 8 characters will not be rejected, but will be truncated to 8 characters for the strength checks and the user will be warned. This is to be used with the traditional DES-based password hashes, which truncate the password at 8 characters. It is important that you do set max=8 if you are using the traditional hashes, or some weak passwords will pass the checks. passphrase=N [passphrase=3] The number of words required for a passphrase, or 0 to disable the support for user-chosen passphrases. match=N [match=4] The length of common substring required to conclude that a password is at least partially based on information found in a character string, or 0 to disable the substring search. Note that the password will not be rejected once a weak substring is found; it will instead be subjected to the usual strength requirements with the weak substring removed. The substring search is case-insensitive and is able to detect and remove a common substring spelled backwards. similar=permit|deny [similar=deny] Whether a new password is allowed to be similar to the old one. The passwords are considered to be similar when there is a sufficiently long common substring and the new password with the substring removed would be weak. random=N[,only] [random=42] The size of randomly-generated passphrases in bits (24 to 72), or 0 to disable this feature. Any passphrase that contains the offered randomly-generated string will be allowed regardless of other possible restrictions. The "only" modifier can be used to disallow user-chosen passwords. enforce=none|users|everyone [enforce=everyone] The module can be configured to warn of weak passwords only, but not actually enforce strong passwords. The "users" setting will enforce strong passwords for invocations by non-root users only. non-unix [] Normally, the module uses getpwnam(3) to obtain the users personal login information and use that during the password strength checks. This behavior can be disabled with the "non-unix" option. retry=N [retry=3] The number of times the module will ask for a new password if the user fails to provide a sufficiently strong password and enter it twice the first time. ask_oldauthtok[=update] [] Ask for the old password as well. Normally, pam_passwdqc leaves this task for subsequent modules. With no argument, the "ask_oldauthtok" option will cause pam_passwdqc to ask for the old password during the preliminary check phase. With "ask_oldauthtok=update", pam_passwdqc will do that during the update phase. check_oldauthtok [] This tells pam_passwdqc to validate the old password before giving a new password prompt. Normally, this task is left for subsequent modules. The primary use for this option is when "ask_oldauthtok=update" is also specified, in which case no other module gets a chance to ask for and validate the password. Of course, this will only work with Unix passwords. use_first_pass [] use_authtok [] Use the new password obtained by modules stacked before pam_passwdqc. This disables user interaction within pam_passwdqc. With this module, the only difference between "use_first_pass" and "use_authtok" is that the former is incompatible with "ask_oldauthtok"..

Requirements:	No special requirements
Platforms:	Linux
Keyword:	Ask,  Ask For,  Character Classes,  Characters,  Module,  Pam,  Pampasswdqc,  Password,  Password Strength,  Passwords,  Security,  Simple Password,  Such As,  Used,  Used To
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