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APPL-15-003014 The macOS system must remove password hints from user accounts.

DISA STIG library V1R8
All changes in this version
first version loaded CAT II

Maps to IA-6 via CCI-000206

Title

The macOS system must remove password hints from user accounts.

Control

Verify the macOS system is configured to remove password hints from user accounts with the following command: HINT=$(/usr/bin/dscl . -list /Users hint | /usr/bin/awk '{ print $2 }') if [ -z "$HINT" ]; then echo "PASS" else echo "FAIL" fi If the result is not "PASS", this is a finding.

Discussion

User accounts must not contain password hints. Password hints leak information about passwords in use and can lead to loss of confidentiality.

Related controls

CCI-000206

Fix

Configure the macOS system to remove password hints from user accounts with the following command: for u in $(/usr/bin/dscl . -list /Users UniqueID | /usr/bin/awk '$2 > 500 {print $1}'); do /usr/bin/dscl . -delete /Users/$u hint done