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Operating systems must enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one numeric character be used.


Overview

Finding ID Version Rule ID IA Controls Severity
V-58367 AOSX-09-000585 SV-72797r1_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 determine 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 10.9 (Mavericks) Workstation Security Technical Implementation Guide 2017-01-05

Details

Check Text ( C-59193r2_chk )
To check if the password policy is configured to require that at least one numeric character be used, run the following command:

sudo pwpolicy getglobalpolicy | tr ' ' '\n' | grep requiresNumeric

If the result is not 'requiresNumeric=1', and password policy is not controlled by a directory server, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-63683r1_fix)
To set the password policy, run the following command:

sudo pwpolicy setglobalpolicy 'requiresNumeric=1'