Avoid knowledge-based authentication
Summary
Password hints and knowledge-based authentication, such as secret questions, should not be enabled.
Description
Password hints often offer enough information for an attacker to guess a users password. Answers to secret questions are sometimes information that is publicly available or that can be found on social media. Therefore, these mechanisms should not be part of the authentication process and should not be used in the password recovery process either.
Supported In
This requirement is verified in following services
| Plan | Supported |
|---|---|
| Essential | 🔴 |
| Advanced | 🟢 |
References
- CWE™-287. Improper authentication
- CWE™-640. Weak password recovery mechanism for forgotten password
- CWE™-1390. Weak Authentication
- NIST 800-63B-5_1_1_2. Memorized secret verifiers
- CMMC-IA_L2-3_5_7. Password complexity
- ISA/IEC 62443-IAC-1_7. Strength of password-based authentication
- ISA/IEC 62443-CR-1_7. Strength of password-based authentication
- OSSTMM3-10_5_3. Telecommunications security (access verification) - Authentication
- NIST SSDF-PW_1_1. Design software to meet security requirements and mitigate security risks
- ISSAF-D_8. Network security - Password security testing (countermeasures)
- MVSP-2_4. Application design controls - Password policy
- OWASP ASVS-2_5_2. Credential recovery
- SIG Lite-SL_72. Is there a password policy for systems that transmit, process or store data that has been approved by management on all platforms?
- SIG Core-H_2_1. Access control
- CASA-2_10_1. Service Authentication
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