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The macOS system must set minimum password lifetime to 24 hours.

Overview

Finding IDVersionRule IDIA ControlsSeverity
V-268548APPL-15-003070SV-268548r1131244_ruleCCI-004066medium
Description
The macOS must be configured to enforce a minimum password lifetime limit of 24 hours. This rule discourages users from cycling through their previous passwords to get back to a preferred one. Note: The guidance for password-based authentication in NIST 800-53 (Rev 5) and NIST 800-63B states that complexity rules must be organizationally defined. The values defined are based on common complexity values, but each organization may define its own password complexity rules.
STIGDate
Apple macOS 15 (Sequoia) Security Technical Implementation Guide2026-02-06

Related Frameworks

1 mapping across 4 frameworks
SCF0 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (3) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

IAC-10Authenticator Management
0.50
IAC-10.1Password-Based Authentication
0.50
IAC-10.4Automated Support For Password Strength
0.50
NIST 800-530 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 2 hops (61) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

AC-10Concurrent Session Control
1.00
AC-12Session Termination
1.00
AC-17(10)Authenticate Remote Commands
1.00
AC-2(1)Automated System Account Management
1.00
AC-2(10)Shared and Group Account Credential Change
1.00
AC-2(11)Usage Conditions
1.00
AC-2(2)Automated Temporary and Emergency Account Management
1.00
AC-2(3)Disable Accounts
1.00
AC-2(4)Automated Audit Actions
1.00
AC-3Access Enforcement
1.00

+51 more (top 10 by confidence shown)

NIST 800-1710 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (4) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

3.5.10
1.00
3.5.7
1.00
3.5.8
1.00
3.5.9
1.00
CCI1 mapping
CCI-004066
1.00

Details

Check Text (C-268548r1131244_chk)

Verify the macOS system is configured to set minimum password lifetime to 24 hours with the following command: /usr/bin/pwpolicy -getaccountpolicies 2> /dev/null | /usr/bin/tail +2 | /usr/bin/xmllint --xpath '//dict/key[text()="policyAttributeMinimumLifetimeHours"]/following-sibling::integer[1]/text()' - | /usr/bin/awk '{ if ($1 >= 24 ) {print "yes"} else {print "no"}}' If the result is not "yes", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-72479r1131243_fix)

Configure the macOS system to set minimum password lifetime to 24 hours. This setting may be enforced using local policy. To set local policy to require a minimum password lifetime, edit the current password policy to contain the following <dict> within the "policyCategoryPasswordContent": [source,xml] ---- <dict> <key>policyContent</key> <string>policyAttributeLastPasswordChangeTime &lt; policyAttributeCurrentTime - (policyAttributeMinimumLifetimeHours * 60 * 60)</string> <key>policyIdentifier</key> <string>Minimum Password Lifetime</string> <key>policyParameters</key> <dict> <key>policyAttributeMinimumLifetimeHours</key> <integer>24</integer> </dict> </dict> ---- After saving the file and exiting to the command prompt, run the following command to load the new policy file, substituting the path to the file in place of "$pwpolicy_file". [source,bash] ---- /usr/bin/pwpolicy setaccountpolicies $pwpolicy_file ----