5.4.1.3 Ensure password expiration warning days is 7 or more - users

Information

The PASS_WARN_AGE parameter in /etc/login.defs allows an administrator to notify users
that their password will expire in a defined number of days. It is recommended that the
PASS_WARN_AGE parameter be set to 7 or more days.

Rationale:

Providing an advance warning that a password will be expiring gives users time to think of
a secure password. Users caught unaware may choose a simple password or write it down
where it may be discovered.

Solution

Set the PASS_WARN_AGE parameter to 7 in /etc/login.defs :

PASS_WARN_AGE 7

Modify user parameters for all users with a password set to match:

# chage --warndays 7 <user>

Notes:

You can also check this setting in /etc/shadow directly. The 6th field should be 7 or more
for all users with a password.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/2420

Item Details

Category: IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

References: 800-53|IA-5(1), CSCv6|16, CSCv7|4.4

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 85e3ca46302b22d0fe0e5f6576c5e79083c71b9d4078b9ca41c9668cfa5d77bb