The macOS system must initiate a session lock after a 15-minute period of inactivity.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-257145	APPL-13-000004	SV-257145r905068_rule		Medium

Description
A screen saver must be enabled and set to require a password to unlock. The timeout must be set to 15 minutes of inactivity. This mitigates the risk that a user might forget to manually lock the screen before stepping away from the computer. A session timeout lock is a temporary action taken when a user stops work and moves away from the immediate physical vicinity of the information system but does not log out because of the temporary nature of the absence. Rather than relying on the user to manually lock their operating system session prior to vacating the vicinity, operating systems need to be able to identify when a user's session has idled and take action to initiate the session lock.

Description

A screen saver must be enabled and set to require a password to unlock. The timeout must be set to 15 minutes of inactivity. This mitigates the risk that a user might forget to manually lock the screen before stepping away from the computer. A session timeout lock is a temporary action taken when a user stops work and moves away from the immediate physical vicinity of the information system but does not log out because of the temporary nature of the absence. Rather than relying on the user to manually lock their operating system session prior to vacating the vicinity, operating systems need to be able to identify when a user's session has idled and take action to initiate the session lock.

STIG	Date
Apple macOS 13 (Ventura) Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-08-28

Details

Check Text ( C-60830r905066_chk )
Verify the macOS system is configured to initiate the screen saver after 15 minutes of inactivity with the following command: /usr/sbin/system_profiler SPConfigurationProfileDataType \| /usr/bin/grep "loginWindowIdleTime" loginWindowIdleTime = 900; If there is no result, or if "idleTime" is not set to "900" seconds or less, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-60771r905067_fix)
Configure the macOS system to initiate the screen saver after 15 minutes of inactivity by installing the "Login Window Policy" configuration profile.