SV-25012r2: The built-in Windows password complexity policy must be enabled. | Windows 7 Security Technical Implementation Guide

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

The built-in Windows password complexity policy must be enabled.

Description

Discussion Text

The use of complex passwords increases their strength against attack. The built-in Windows password complexity policy requires passwords to contain at least 3 of the 4 types of characters (numbers, upper- and lower-case letters, and special characters), as well as preventing the inclusion of user names or parts of.

How this relates to the STIG checklist: STIG vs SCAP benchmark.

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000192Not mappedCCI-000193Not mappedCCI-000194Not mappedCCI-001619CCE-9370-8

Additional Details

Responsibility

System Administrator

References

DPMS Target Windows 7 DISA DPMS Target Windows 7 1712

Checks

OVAL

oval:mil.disa.fso.windows:var:365600 ← xccdf_mil.disa.stig_value_password_complexity_var

SCC Automation Reference

The reconstructed evaluation script behind this rule's OVAL check(s) — every module a compound check combines, with this rule's own concrete values and DISA's SCC tool's real per-module mechanism curated from static teardown of SCC releases.

# Windows PowerShell
# Reconstructed from oval:mil.disa.fso.windows:def:3656
# The built-in Windows password complexity policy must be enabled.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# Verifies 'Password must meet complexity requirements' is set to 'Enabled'
# passwordpolicy_object (passwordpolicy_test)
function test_1 {
  return (($__tmp = "$env:TEMP\scc_securitypolicy_$([guid]::NewGuid().Guid).cfg"; secedit /export /cfg $__tmp /areas SECURITYPOLICY /quiet | Out-Null; $__m = Select-String -Path $__tmp -Pattern '^PasswordComplexity\s*=\s*(\d+)'; Remove-Item $__tmp -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue; if ($__m) { $__m.Matches[0].Groups[1].Value.Trim() } else { '' }) -eq '1')
}

if (test_1) {
  Write-Output "PASS"
} else {
  Write-Output "FAIL"
}

Assessment Script Powered by AISyntax-verified

A standalone PowerShell script to assess this control automatically. Review before running it in your environment.

Syntax-checked as valid PowerShell. Not executed here — running it for real needs the actual windows_7 target this check assesses.

# OVAL Definition: oval:mil.disa.fso.windows:def:3656
$passwordPolicy = Get-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\' -Name 'PasswordComplexity'
if ($passwordPolicy.PasswordComplexity -eq 1) { Write-Output "PASS"; Exit 0 } else { Write-Output "FAIL"; Exit 1 }

Remediation

Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings >> Security Settings >> Account Policies >> Password Policy >> "Password must meet complexity requirements" to "Enabled".