IAM password policy should require a length of at least 14 characters

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Description

Password policies are, in part, used to enforce password complexity requirements. Use IAM password policies to ensure passwords are a minimum length. The password policy should require a minimum password length of 14 characters.

Rationale

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

Remediation

From the console

  1. Log in to the AWS Console. Use an account that has permission to view identity access management account settings.
  2. Navigate to IAM Service.
  3. Click on Account Settings on the left pane.
  4. Set Minimum password length to 14 or greater.
  5. Click Apply password policy.

From the command line

aws iam update-account-password-policy --minimum-password-length 14

Note: All commands starting with aws iam update-account-password-policy can be combined into a single command.

References

  1. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/config/latest/developerguide/operational-best-practices-for-cis_aws_benchmark_level_1.html
  2. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_credentials_passwords_account-policy.html
  3. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/best-practices.html#configure-strong-password-policy