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# Security Realm: User Lockout

Configuration Options Related Tasks Related Topics

Password guessing is a common type of security attack. In this type of attack, a hacker attempts to log in to a computer using various combinations of usernames and passwords. Weblogic Server provides a set of attributes to protect user accounts from intruders. This page allows us to define how user lockouts will be handled in this security realm.

WebLogic Server provides a set of attributes to protect user accounts from intruders. By default, these attributes are set for maximum protection. As a system administrator, you have the option of turning off all the attributes, increasing the number of login attempts before a user account is locked, increasing the time period in which invalid login attempts are made before locking the user account, and changing the amount of time a user account is locked. Remember that changing the attributes on this page lessens security and leaves user accounts vulnerable to security attacks.

If a user lockout security event occurs on one node of a cluster, the other nodes in the cluster are notified of the event and the user account is locked on all nodes in the cluster. This features prevents a hacker from systematically breaking into all the nodes in a cluster.

Note: The User Lockout attributes apply to the security realm and all its security providers. If you are using an Authentication provider that has its own mechanism for protecting user accounts, disable the Lockout Enabled attribute.

If a user account becomes locked and you delete the user account and add another user account with the same name and password, the User Lockout attribute will not be reset.

#### Configuration Options

Name | Description
--- | ---
Lockout Enabled | Specifies whether the server locks users out when there are invalid login attempts on their account.
Lockout Threshold | The maximum number of consecutive invalid login attempts that can occur before a user's account is locked out. Any subsequent attempts to access the account (even if the username/password combination is correct) raise a Security exception; the account remains locked until it is explicitly unlocked by the system administrator or another login attempt is made after the lockout duration period ends. Invalid login attempts must be made within a span defined by the Lockout Reset Duration attribute.
Lockout Duration | The amount of time that a user's account is locked out.
Lockout Reset Duration | The amount of time within which consecutive invalid login attempts cause a user's account to be locked out. An account is locked if the number of invalid login attempts defined in the Lockout Threshold attribute happens within the amount of time defined by this attribute. For example, if the value in Lockout Reset Duration attribute is 5 minutes, the Lockout Threshold is 3, and 3 invalid login attempts are made within a 6 minute interval, then the account is not locked. If 3 invalid login attempts are made within a 5 minute period, however, then the account is locked.
Lockout Cache Size | The number of invalid login records (between 0 and 99999) that the server places in a cache.
Lockout GC Threshold | The maximum number of invalid login records that the server keeps in memory. If the number of invalid login records is equal to or greater than the value of this attribute, the server's garbage collection purges the records that have expired. A record expires when the user is unlocked or when the lockout reset duration has expired for that record.

Related Tasks

- Set user lockout attributes
- Unlock user accounts

Related Topics

- Understanding WebLogic Security
- Protecting User Accounts