Apple macOS 14 (Sonoma) Security Technical Implementation Guide

The Apple macOS 14 (Sonoma) Security Technical Implementation Guide (V2 R4) has 156 STIG checks. New to STIG checklists? Read What is a STIG checklist?, CKL vs CKLB, and STIG vs SCAP benchmark.

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Severity

Version

V2 · R4

CurrentPublished Wed Oct 01 2025

The macOS system must enforce session lock no more than five seconds after screen saver is started.

Apple macOS 14 (Sonoma) Security Technical Implementation Guide

Assessment Title

Rule Text

The macOS system must enforce session lock no more than five seconds after screen saver is started.

Description

Discussion Text

A screen saver must be enabled and the system must be configured to require a password to unlock once the screensaver has been on for a maximum of five seconds.

An unattended system with an excessive grace period is vulnerable to a malicious user.

New to STIG checklists? Read What is a STIG checklist? and CKL vs CKLB.

Objective

V-259420

Rule

SV-259420r958400_rule

Severity

medium

Rule Version

APPL-14-000003

Documentable

false

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Rev 5

Assessment Procedure

Check Text

Verify the macOS system is configured to initiate a session lock within five seconds of the screen saver starting with the following command:

/usr/bin/osascript -l JavaScript << EOS
function run() {
  let delay = ObjC.unwrap($.NSUserDefaults.alloc.initWithSuiteName('com.apple.screensaver')\
.objectForKey('askForPasswordDelay'))
  if ( delay <= 5 ) {
    return("true")
  } else {
    return("false")
  }
}
EOS

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

Implementation Procedure

Fix Text

Configure the macOS system to initiate a session lock within five seconds of the screen saver starting by installing the "com.apple.screensaver" configuration profile.

STIG check 3 of 156 in the Apple macOS 14 (Sonoma) STIG checklist

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