Security Question Configuration: Bad Attribute Specified Error in Identity Manager

Products

• CA Identity Manager
• CA Identity Governance
• CA Identity Portal

Issue/Introduction

Users attempting to set Security Questions and Answers through the "Modify My Profile" task encounter a facility=6 severity=3 error.

Error Message: Logical Attribute: |Answer4|,|Answer3|,|Answer2|,|Answer1|,|Question5|,|Question4|,|VerifyAnswer|,|Question3|,|Question2|,|Question1|,|VerifyQuestion|,|Answer5|, had error: [facility=6 severity=3 reason=0 status=1 message=Bad attribute specified].

 

Environment

• Product: CA Identity Manager, CA Identity Governance, CA Identity Portal
• Version: 14.x, 15.x
• Components: Forgotten Password Handler, User Directory
• Attribute: %PASSWORD_HINT%

Cause

The Security Questions and Answers logical attributes are processed by the Forgotten Password Handler and mapped to the physical %PASSWORD_HINT% attribute. This error occurs if the %PASSWORD_HINT% attribute is not defined as a multi-valued string in the User Directory definition, preventing the Handler from passing field values from the logical attributes to the physical store.

Resolution

Ensure the %PASSWORD_HINT% attribute is configured as multi-valued in the User Directory XML.

1. Log in to the Identity Manager Management Console.
2. Navigate to Directories and select your User Directory.
3. Export the User Directory definition XML.
4. Open the XML file and locate the %PASSWORD_HINT% attribute mapping.
5. Verify that the attribute is set to multi-valued="true" (or the equivalent syntax for your directory type).
   • Example snippet: <Property name="%PASSWORD_HINT%" multi-valued="true" />
6. Import the modified User Directory XML back into the Management Console.
7. Restart the Identity Management Environment (IME) to apply the changes.