Adversaries may attempt to access detailed information about the password policy used within an enterprise network or cloud environment. Password policies are a way to enforce complex passwords that are difficult to guess or crack through Brute Force. This information may help the adversary to create a list of common passwords and launch dictionary and/or brute force attacks which adheres to the policy (e.g. if the minimum password length should be 8, then not trying passwords such as 'pass123'; not checking for more than 3-4 passwords per account if the lockout is set to 6 as to not lock out accounts).
Password policies can be set and discovered on Windows, Linux, and macOS systems via various command shell utilities such as <code>net accounts (/domain)</code>, <code>Get-ADDefaultDomainPasswordPolicy</code>, <code>chage -l <username></code>, <code>cat /etc/pam.d/common-password</code>, and <code>pwpolicy getaccountpolicies</code> (Citation: Superuser Linux Password Policies) (Citation: Jamf User Password Policies). Adversaries may also leverage a Network Device CLI on network devices to discover password policy information (e.g. <code>show aaa</code>, <code>show aaa common-criteria policy all</code>).(Citation: US-CERT-TA18-106A)
Password policies can be discovered in cloud environments using available APIs such as <code>GetAccountPasswordPolicy</code> in AWS (Citation: AWS GetPasswordPolicy).
View in MITRE ATT&CK®| Capability ID | Capability Description | Mapping Type | ATT&CK ID | ATT&CK Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PR.AA-01.01 | Identity and credential management | Mitigates | T1201 | Password Policy Discovery |
Comments
This diagnostic statement protects against Password Policy Discovery through the use of hardened access control policies, secure defaults, password complexity requirements, multifactor authentication requirements, and removal of terminated accounts.
References
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| Capability ID | Capability Description | Mapping Type | ATT&CK ID | ATT&CK Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CA-07 | Continuous Monitoring | mitigates | T1201 | Password Policy Discovery | |
| CM-06 | Configuration Settings | mitigates | T1201 | Password Policy Discovery | |
| SI-03 | Malicious Code Protection | mitigates | T1201 | Password Policy Discovery | |
| CM-02 | Baseline Configuration | mitigates | T1201 | Password Policy Discovery | |
| SI-04 | System Monitoring | mitigates | T1201 | Password Policy Discovery |
| Capability ID | Capability Description | Mapping Type | ATT&CK ID | ATT&CK Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| action.hacking.variety.Profile host | Enumerating the state of the current host | related-to | T1201 | Password Policy Discovery |
| Capability ID | Capability Description | Mapping Type | ATT&CK ID | ATT&CK Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEF-ID-E5 | Microsoft Defender for Identity | Technique Scores | T1201 | Password Policy Discovery |
Comments
This control's "Active Directory attributes reconnaissance (LDAP) (external ID 2210)" alert may be able to detect this operation. There are statements in the documentation for the alert, such as: "Active Directory LDAP reconnaissance is used by attackers to gain critical information about the domain environment. This information can help attackers map the domain structure ...", that may indicate support for detecting this technique. The level of detection though is unknown and therefore a conservative assessment of a Minimal score is assigned.
References
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