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APPL-26-003070 The macOS system must set minimum password lifetime to 24 hours.

DISA STIG library V1R4
All changes in this version
first version loaded CAT II

Maps to IA-5(1) via CCI-004066

Title

The macOS system must set minimum password lifetime to 24 hours.

Control

Verify the macOS system is configured to set minimum password lifetime to 24 hours with the following command: /usr/bin/pwpolicy -getaccountpolicies 2> /dev/null | /usr/bin/tail +2 | /usr/bin/xmllint --xpath '//dict/key[text()="policyAttributeMinimumLifetimeHours"]/following-sibling::integer[1]/text()' - | /usr/bin/awk '{ if ($1 >= 24 ) {print "pass"} else {print "fail"}}' If the result is not "pass", this is a finding.

Discussion

The macOS must be configured to enforce a minimum password lifetime limit of 24 hours. This rule discourages users from cycling through their previous passwords to get back to a preferred one. Note: The guidance for password-based authentication in NIST 800-53 (Rev 5) and NIST 800-63B states that complexity rules must be organizationally defined. The values defined are based on common complexity values, but each organization may define its own password complexity rules.

Related controls

CCI-004066

Fix

Configure the macOS system to set minimum password lifetime to 24 hours. This setting may be enforced using local policy. To set local policy to require a minimum password lifetime, edit the current password policy to contain the following within the "policyCategoryPasswordContent": [source,xml] ---- policyContent policyAttributeLastPasswordChangeTime < policyAttributeCurrentTime - (policyAttributeMinimumLifetimeHours * 60 * 60) policyIdentifier Minimum Password Lifetime policyParameters policyAttributeMinimumLifetimeHours 24 ---- After saving the file and exiting to the command prompt, run the following command to load the new policy file, substituting the path to the file in place of "$pwpolicy_file". [source,bash] ---- /usr/bin/pwpolicy setaccountpolicies $pwpolicy_file ----