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1.8 Ensure IAM password policy requires minimum length of 14 or greater (Automated)​

Profile Applicability​

• Level 1

Description​

Password policies are, in part, used to enforce password complexity requirements. IAM password policies can be used to ensure password are at least a given length. It is recommended that the password policy require a minimum password length 14.

Rationale​

Setting a password complexity policy increases account resiliency against brute force login attempts.

Audit​

Perform the following to ensure the password policy is configured as prescribed:

From Console​

  1. Login to AWS Console (with appropriate permissions to View Identity Access Management Account Settings)
  2. Go to IAM Service on the AWS Console
  3. Click on Account Settings on the Left Pane
  4. Ensure "Minimum password length" is set to 14 or greater.

From Command Line​

aws iam get-account-password-policy

Ensure the output of the above command includes "MinimumPasswordLength": 14 (or higher)

Remediation​

Perform the following to set the password policy as prescribed:

From Console​

  1. Login to AWS Console (with appropriate permissions to View Identity Access Management Account Settings)
  2. Go to IAM Service on the AWS Console
  3. Click on Account Settings on the Left Pane
  4. Set "Minimum password length" to 14 or greater.
  5. Click "Apply password policy"

From Command Line​

 aws iam update-account-password-policy --minimum-password-length 14
note

All commands starting with "aws iam update-account-password-policy" can be combined into a single command.

References​

CCE-78907-3
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_credentials_passwords_account-policy.html
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/best-practices.html#configure-strong-password-policy