The macOS system must remove password hints from user accounts.

Overview

Finding IDVersionRule IDIA ControlsSeverity
V-259544APPL-14-003014SV-259544r958470_ruleCCI-000206medium
Description
User accounts must not contain password hints. Password hints leak information about passwords that are currently in use and can lead to loss of confidentiality.
STIGDate
Apple macOS 14 (Sonoma) Security Technical Implementation Guide2024-12-04

Details

Check Text (C-259544r958470_chk)

Verify the macOS system is configured to remove password hints from user accounts with the following command: /usr/bin/dscl . -list /Users hint | /usr/bin/awk '{print $2}' | /usr/bin/wc -l | /usr/bin/xargs If the result is not "0", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-63191r941253_fix)

Configure the macOS system to remove password hints from user accounts with the following command: for u in $(/usr/bin/dscl . -list /Users UniqueID | /usr/bin/awk '$2 > 500 {print $1}'); do /usr/bin/dscl . -delete /Users/$u hint done