Title

The macOS system must enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one special character be used. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

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 in determining 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. Special characters are those characters that are not alphanumeric. Examples include: ~ ! @ # $ % ^ *.

Check Content

Verify the macOS system is configured to enforce at least one special character of password complexity with the following commands: /usr/sbin/system_profiler SPConfigurationProfileDataType | /usr/bin/grep "minComplexChars" minComplexChar = 1; If "minComplexChars" is not set to "1", this is a finding. /usr/sbin/system_profiler SPConfigurationProfileDataType | /usr/bin/grep "allowSimple" allowSimple = 0; If "allowSimple" is not set to "0", this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the macOS system to enforce at least one special character of password complexity by installing the "Passcode Policy" configuration profile.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-257230r905323_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-257230

Group Title: SRG-OS-000266-GPOS-00101

Expert Comments

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