Apple macOS 26 (Tahoe) Security Technical Implementation Guide

The Apple macOS 26 (Tahoe) Security Technical Implementation Guide (V1 R4) has 160 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

V1 · R4

CurrentPublished Wed Sep 30 2026

The macOS system must enforce screen saver timeout.

Apple macOS 26 (Tahoe) Security Technical Implementation Guide

Assessment Title

Rule Text

The macOS system must enforce screen saver timeout.

Description

Discussion Text

The screen saver timeout must be set to 900 seconds or a shorter length of time.

This rule ensures that a full session lock is triggered within no more than 900 seconds of inactivity.

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

Objective

V-277049

Rule

SV-277049r1148599_rule

Severity

medium

Rule Version

APPL-26-000070

Documentable

false

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Rev 5

Assessment Procedure

Check Text

Verify the macOS system is configured to initiate the screen saver timeout after 15 minutes of inactivity with the following command:

/usr/bin/osascript -l JavaScript << EOS
function run() {
let timeout = ObjC.unwrap($.NSUserDefaults.alloc.initWithSuiteName('com.apple.screensaver')\
.objectForKey('idleTime'))
if ( timeout <= 900 ) {
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 the screen saver after 15 minutes of inactivity by installing the "com.apple.screensaver" configuration profile.

STIG check 22 of 160 in the Apple macOS 26 (Tahoe) STIG checklist

← Previous · V-277048The macOS system must set account lockout time to 15 minutes.Next · V-277050 →The macOS system must disable login to other users' active and locked sessions.