Users must be warned in advance of their passwords expiring.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-1172	WN08-SO-000025	SV-48061r1_rule	ECSC-1	Low

Description
Creating strong passwords that can be remembered by users requires some thought. By giving the user advance warning, the user has time to construct a sufficiently strong password. This setting configures the system to display a warning to users telling them how many days are left before their password expires.

STIG	Date
Windows 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2013-10-01

Details

Check Text ( C-44800r1_chk )
Analyze the system using the Security Configuration and Analysis snap-in. (See "Performing Analysis with the Security Configuration and Analysis Snap-in" in the STIG Overview document.) Expand the Security Configuration and Analysis tree view. Navigate to Local Policies -> Security Options. If the value for "Interactive Logon: Prompt user to change password before expiration" is not set to "14" days or more, this is a finding. The policy referenced configures the following registry value: Registry Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Registry Path: \Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\ Value Name: PasswordExpiryWarning Value Type: REG_DWORD Value: 14

Check Text ( C-44800r1_chk )

Analyze the system using the Security Configuration and Analysis snap-in. (See "Performing Analysis with the Security Configuration and Analysis Snap-in" in the STIG Overview document.)
Expand the Security Configuration and Analysis tree view.
Navigate to Local Policies -> Security Options.

If the value for "Interactive Logon: Prompt user to change password before expiration" is not set to "14" days or more, this is a finding.

The policy referenced configures the following registry value:

Registry Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Registry Path: \Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\

Value Name: PasswordExpiryWarning

Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 14

Fix Text (F-41199r1_fix)
Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options -> "Interactive Logon: Prompt user to change password before expiration" to "14" days or more.