TSS7111E - "Too Similar to Old Password" In Top Secret

Products

• Top Secret
• Top Secret - LDAP
• WEB ADMINISTRATOR FOR TOP SECRET

Issue/Introduction

When trying to change a password at signon, the following error occurs:

TSS7111E New Password (Change) Invalid - Too Similar to Old Password

What criteria is Top Secret using to determine the new password is too similar to the old password:

Here are our password settings:

TSS9661I        CA Top Secret PASSWORD Status
 NEWPW(MIN=08,MAX=008,WARN=03,MINDAYS=00,ID)
 HPBPW(000)                 MSUSPEND(YES)               NPWRTHRESH(2)
PWEXP(065)                 PWHIST(14)                  PTHRESH(006)
 PWVIEW(NO)                 PASSCHAR(!,@,#,$,%,&,*,_,-)
 PWVERIFY(NO)               PWENC(DES3)

Environment

Release : 16.0

Component : CA Top Secret for z/OS

Resolution

Without NEWPW(TS) set, if the new password is exactly the same as any password in the password history (from the PWHIST control option), the message:

TSS7111E New Password (Change) Invalid - Too Similar to Old Password

is issued.

With NEWPW(TS) set, if any of the following conditions exist, a new password is considered to be too similar to a previous password:
- The first three characters are identical.
- The second three characters are identical.
- The last three characters are identical.