cyberstrikeus Ensure inactive password lock is 30 days or less
Profile Applicability:
- Level 1 - Server
- Level 1 - Workstation
Assessment Status: Automated
Description
User accounts that have been inactive for over a given period of time can be automatically disabled. It is recommended that accounts that are inactive for 30 days after password expiration be disabled.
Rationale
Inactive accounts pose a threat to system security since the users are not logging in to notice failed login attempts or other anomalies.
Audit Procedure
Command Line
Run the following command and verify INACTIVE conforms to site policy (no more than 30 days):
useradd -D | grep INACTIVE
Expected output:
INACTIVE=30
Verify all users with a password have Password inactive no more than 30 days after password expires. Run the following command and Review list of users and INACTIVE to verify that all users' INACTIVE conforms to site policy (no more than 30 days):
awk -F: '(/^[^:]+:[^!*]/ && ($7~/(\s*|-1)/ || $7>30)){print $1 " " $7}' /etc/shadow
Expected Result:
No <user>:<INACTIVE> should be returned.
Remediation
Command Line
Run the following command to set the default password inactivity period to 30 days:
useradd -D -f 30
Modify user parameters for all users with a password set to match:
chage --inactive 30 <user>
Default Value
INACTIVE=-1
Additional Information
A value of -1 would disable this setting.
References
None
CIS Controls
| Controls Version | Control |
|---|---|
| v7 | 4.4 Use Unique Passwords - Where multi-factor authentication is not supported (such as local administrator, root, or service accounts), accounts will use passwords that are unique to that system. |
Profile
- Level 1 - Server
- Level 1 - Workstation