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V-268541

CAT II (Medium)

The macOS system must remove password hints from user accounts.

Rule ID

SV-268541r1131242_rule

STIG

Apple macOS 15 (Sequoia) Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V1R7

CCIs

CCI-000206

Discussion

User accounts must not contain password hints. Password hints leak information about passwords in use and can lead to loss of confidentiality.

Check Content

Verify the macOS system is configured to remove password hints from user accounts with the following command:

HINT=$(/usr/bin/dscl . -list /Users hint | /usr/bin/awk '{ print $2 }')

if [ -z "$HINT" ]; then
echo "PASS"
else
echo "FAIL"
fi

If the result is not "PASS", this is a finding.

Fix Text

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