The macOS system must enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one numeric character be used.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-214879	AOSX-13-000585	SV-214879r507075_rule		Medium

Description
Use of a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password complexity is one factor of several that determines how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password, the greater the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised.

Description

Use of a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password complexity is one factor of several that determines how long it takes to crack a password. The more complex the password, the greater the number of possible combinations that need to be tested before the password is compromised.

STIG	Date
Apple OS X 10.13 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2020-09-11

Details

Check Text ( C-16079r397209_chk )
Password policy can be set with a configuration profile or the "pwpolicy" utility. If password policy is set with a configuration profile, run the following command to check if the system is configured to require that passwords contain at least one numeric character: /usr/sbin/system_profiler SPConfigurationProfileDataType \| /usr/bin/grep requireAlphanumeric If the result is null or is not “requireAlphanumeric = 1”, this is a finding. If password policy is set with the "pwpolicy utility", run the following command instead: /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/pwpolicy getaccountpolicies Look for the line "policyCategoryPasswordContent". If it does not exist, and password policy is not controlled by a directory service, this is a finding. Otherwise, in the array section that follows it, there should be a section that contains a check that "matches" the variable "policyAttributePassword" to the regular expression "(.[0-9].){1,}+" or to a similar expression that will ensure the password contains a character in the range 0-9 one or more times. If this check allows users to create passwords without at least one numeric character, or if no such check exists, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-16079r397209_chk )

Password policy can be set with a configuration profile or the "pwpolicy" utility. If password policy is set with a configuration profile, run the following command to check if the system is configured to require that passwords contain at least one numeric character:

/usr/sbin/system_profiler SPConfigurationProfileDataType | /usr/bin/grep requireAlphanumeric

If the result is null or is not “requireAlphanumeric = 1”, this is a finding.

If password policy is set with the "pwpolicy utility", run the following command instead:

/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/pwpolicy getaccountpolicies

Look for the line "policyCategoryPasswordContent".

If it does not exist, and password policy is not controlled by a directory service, this is a finding.

Otherwise, in the array section that follows it, there should be a section that contains a check that "matches" the variable "policyAttributePassword" to the regular expression "(.*[0-9].*){1,}+" or to a similar expression that will ensure the password contains a character in the range 0-9 one or more times.

If this check allows users to create passwords without at least one numeric character, or if no such check exists, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-16077r397210_fix)
This setting may be enforced using the "Passcode Policy" configuration profile or by a directory service. To set the password policy without a configuration profile, run the following command to save a copy of the current "pwpolicy" account policy file: /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/pwpolicy getaccountpolicies \| tail -n +2 > pwpolicy.plist Open the generated file in a text editor. If the file does not yet contain any policy settings, replace with ; then insert the following text after the opening tag and before the closing tag. The same text can also be used if the line "policyCategoryPasswordContent" is not present. policyCategoryPasswordContent policyContent policyAttributePassword matches '(.[0-9].){1,}+' policyIdentifier com.apple.policy.legacy.requiresNumeric policyParameters minimumNumericCharacters 1 If the file does contain policy settings, and the line "policyCategoryPasswordContent" does exist, insert the following text after the opening tag that comes right after it: policyContent policyAttributePassword matches '(.[0-9].){1,}+' policyIdentifier com.apple.policy.legacy.requiresNumeric policyParameters minimumNumericCharacters 1 After saving the file and exiting to the command prompt, run the following command to load the new policy file: /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/pwpolicy setaccountpolicies pwpolicy.plist Note: Updates to password restrictions must be thoroughly evaluated in a test environment. Mistakes in configuration may block password change and local user creation operations, as well as lock out all local users, including administrators.

Fix Text (F-16077r397210_fix)

This setting may be enforced using the "Passcode Policy" configuration profile or by a directory service.

To set the password policy without a configuration profile, run the following command to save a copy of the current "pwpolicy" account policy file:

/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/pwpolicy getaccountpolicies | tail -n +2 > pwpolicy.plist

Open the generated file in a text editor.

If the file does not yet contain any policy settings, replace with ; then insert the following text after the opening tag and before the closing tag.

The same text can also be used if the line "policyCategoryPasswordContent" is not present.

policyCategoryPasswordContent

policyContent
policyAttributePassword matches '(.*[0-9].*){1,}+'
policyIdentifier
com.apple.policy.legacy.requiresNumeric
policyParameters

minimumNumericCharacters
1

If the file does contain policy settings, and the line "policyCategoryPasswordContent" does exist, insert the following text after the opening tag that comes right after it:

policyContent
policyAttributePassword matches '(.*[0-9].*){1,}+'
policyIdentifier
com.apple.policy.legacy.requiresNumeric
policyParameters

minimumNumericCharacters
1

After saving the file and exiting to the command prompt, run the following command to load the new policy file:

/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/pwpolicy setaccountpolicies pwpolicy.plist

Note: Updates to password restrictions must be thoroughly evaluated in a test environment. Mistakes in configuration may block password change and local user creation operations, as well as lock out all local users, including administrators.