Information
This policy setting defines how long a user can use their password before it expires.
Values for this policy setting range from 0 to 730 days. If you set the value to 0, the password will never expire.
Because attackers can crack passwords, the more frequently you change the password the less opportunity an attacker has to use a cracked password. However, the lower this value is set, the higher the potential for an increase in calls to help desk support due to users having to change their password or forgetting which password is current.
The recommended state for this setting is 365 or fewer days, but not 0
The longer a password exists the higher the likelihood that it will be compromised by a brute force attack, by an attacker gaining general knowledge about the user, or by the user sharing the password. Configuring the Maximum password age setting to 0 so that users are never required to change their passwords is a major security risk because that allows a compromised password to be used by the malicious user for as long as the valid user has authorized access.
Solution
To establish the recommended configuration via configuration profiles, set the following Settings Catalog path to 365 or fewer days, but not 0 :
Device Lock\Device Password Enabled: Device Password Expiration
Impact:
If the Maximum password age setting is too low, users are required to change their passwords very often. Such a configuration can reduce security in the organization, because users might write their passwords in an insecure location or lose them. If the value for this policy setting is too high, the level of security within an organization is reduced because it allows potential attackers more time in which to discover user passwords or to use compromised accounts.
Warning: If an organization is using Windows Hello for Business the the Device Lock password settings can impact PIN polices if those policies are not first defined elsewhere. Windows will follow the Windows Hello for Business policies for PINs if this key exists: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Policies\PassportForWork\<Tenant-ID>\Device\Policies Otherwise, it will follow Device Lock policies.
This benchmark recommends configuring Device Lock policies for Local User accounts and Windows Hello for Business policies for PINs.