The OS X system must enforce a minimum 15-character password length.

From Apple OS X 10.12 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Associated with: CCI-000205

SV-90767r1_rule The OS X system must enforce a minimum 15-character password length.

Vulnerability discussion

The minimum password length must be set to 15 characters. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password length is one factor of several that helps to determine strength and how long it takes to crack a password. The use of more characters in a password helps to exponentially increase the time and/or resources required to compromise the password.

Check content

To check the currently applied policies for passwords and accounts, use the following command: /usr/bin/sudo /usr/sbin/system_profiler SPConfigurationProfileDataType | /usr/bin/grep minLength The parameter minLength should be "15". If it is less than "15", this is a finding.

Fix text

This setting is enforced using the "Passcode Policy" configuration profile. 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.

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