Ensure an Inactivity Interval of 15 Minutes Or Less for the Screen Saver Is Enabled

MediumLevel 1Automatedmacos

Description

A locking screen saver is one of the standard security controls to limit access to a computer and the current user's session when the computer is temporarily unused or unattended. In macOS, the screen saver starts after a value is selected in the drop- down menu. 15 minutes or less is an acceptable value. Audit: Unlike the benchmark script, an unset idleTime fails (JavaScript treats null <= 900 as true).

How it is checked

Audit method: Shell command

shell

/usr/bin/osascript -l JavaScript <<'EOS'
function run() {
  let timeout = ObjC.unwrap($.NSUserDefaults.alloc.initWithSuiteName('com.apple.screensaver').objectForKey('idleTime'))
  if ( timeout != null && timeout > 0 && timeout <= 900 ) {
    return("true")
  } else {
    return("false")
  }
}
EOS

Expected output: true

How it is fixed

Fix method: Guidance or infrastructure patch

Profile (preferred): com.apple.screensaver idleTime = <integer><≤900></integer>.

Properties

Operating systems: macos-26
Tags: macossystem-settings
Reference: CIS Apple macOS 26 Tahoe Benchmark v1.1.0 - 2.11.1 Ensure an Inactivity Interval of 15 Minutes Or Less for the Screen Saver Is Enabled

Check this host

Run this on a machine you are allowed to audit. The scan is read-only.

shell

tmaegis scan --target macos