Profile Applicability: Level 1


Description: 

Password policies are, in part, used to enforce password complexity requirements. IAM password policies can be used to ensure passwords are comprised of different character sets. It is recommended that the password policy requires at least one lowercase letter.


Rationale: 

At least one symbol in the password and similar conditions such as minimum length, whether it requires nonalphabetic characters, and how frequently it must be rotated in users account will make a strong password, one of the best security practices.


Impact:

Setting a password complexity policy increases account resiliency against brute force login attempts. 


Default Value:

By default, AWS will have only a few password policy and if you want to make custom policies you can follow the remediation steps.

Audit: 

Perform the following to ensure the password policy is configured as prescribed: Via AWS Console 

  1. Login to AWS Console 

  2. Go to IAM Service on the AWS Console https://console.aws.amazon.com/iam/

  3. Click on Account Settings on the Left Pane

  4. Check the list of policies shown under Password policy section to know whether the particular policy is enabled or not


CLI Command:

  • To view the password policy:

    aws iam get-account-password-policy


Remediation:

Pre-requisites:

  • Login to AWS console with Administrator access

  • After auditing, if the found lowercase letter condition is not enabled then only perform the below steps.


Implementation steps:

Perform the following to set the password policy as prescribed:

Using AWS Console

  1. Login to AWS Console 

  2. Go to IAM Service on the AWS Console https://console.aws.amazon.com/iam/

  3. Click on Account Settings on the Left Pane

  4. Click on Change password policy button under password policy section

  5. Check the Require at least one lowercase letter from Latin alphabet (A-Z) check box and click on save changes


CLI Remediation

  • To create or change the custom password policy:

    aws iam update-account-password-policy --require-lowercase-characters


Backout plan:

  • Login to AWS Console 

  • Go to IAM Service on the AWS Console https://console.aws.amazon.com/iam/

  • Click on Account Settings on the Left Pane

  • If you want to delete or change the custom policies click on Delete or Change buttons


  • CLI Command:

  • To delete the custom password policy:

    aws iam delete-account-password-policy


References: 

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_credentials_passwords_account-policy.html#IAMPasswordPolicy