The macOS system must enforce session lock no more than five seconds after screen saver is started.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-259420	APPL-14-000003	SV-259420r940882_rule		Medium

Description
A screen saver must be enabled and the system must be configured to require a password to unlock once the screensaver has been on for a maximum of five seconds. An unattended system with an excessive grace period is vulnerable to a malicious user.

STIG	Date
Apple macOS 14 (Sonoma) Security Technical Implementation Guide	2024-01-10

Details

Check Text ( C-63159r940880_chk )
Verify the macOS system is configured to initiate a session lock within five seconds of the screen saver starting with the following command: /usr/bin/osascript -l JavaScript << EOS function run() { let delay = ObjC.unwrap($.NSUserDefaults.alloc.initWithSuiteName('com.apple.screensaver')\ .objectForKey('askForPasswordDelay')) if ( delay <= 5 ) { return("true") } else { return("false") } } EOS If the result is not "true", this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-63159r940880_chk )

Verify the macOS system is configured to initiate a session lock within five seconds of the screen saver starting with the following command:

/usr/bin/osascript -l JavaScript << EOS
function run() {
let delay = ObjC.unwrap($.NSUserDefaults.alloc.initWithSuiteName('com.apple.screensaver')\
.objectForKey('askForPasswordDelay'))
if ( delay <= 5 ) {
return("true")
} else {
return("false")
}
}
EOS

If the result is not "true", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-63067r940881_fix)
Configure the macOS system to initiate a session lock within five seconds of the screen saver starting by installing the "com.apple.screensaver" configuration profile.