Ensure Software Update Deferment Is Less Than or Equal to 30 Days

HighLevel 1Automatedmacos

Description

Apple provides the capability to manage software updates on Apple devices through mobile device management. Part of those capabilities permit organizations to defer software updates and allow for testing. Many organizations have specialized software and configurations that may be negatively impacted by Apple updates. If software updates are deferred, they should not be deferred for more than 30 days. This control only verifies that deferred software updates are not deferred for more than 30 days. Note: Software deferment is deprecated by Apple and will be removed in a future OS release/update. Apple Device Management Profile - SoftwareUpdate Apple software updates almost always include security updates. Attackers evaluate updates to create exploit code in order to attack unpatched systems. The longer a system remains unpatched, the greater an exploit possibility exists in which there...

How it is checked

Audit method: Shell command

shell

/usr/bin/osascript -l JavaScript <<'EOS'
function run() {
  let delay = ObjC.unwrap($.NSUserDefaults.alloc.initWithSuiteName('com.apple.applicationaccess').objectForKey('enforcedSoftwareUpdateDelay'))
  if ( delay == null || delay <= 30 ) {
    return("true")
  } else {
    return("false")
  }
}
EOS

Expected output: true

How it is fixed

Fix method: Guidance or infrastructure patch

Profile Method: Create or edit a configuration profile with the following information: 1. The PayloadType string is com.apple.applicationaccess 2. The key to include is enforcedSoftwareUpdateDelay 3. The key must be set to <integer><1-30></integer> Note: The key enforcedSoftwareUpdateDelay is for all updates through software updates. If your organization needs to delay major OS upgrades on a separate timescale than minor OS updates (or App Store updates), see the Additional Information section for a breakdown of what keys to use.

Properties

Operating systems: macos-14
Tags: macospatchingsonoma
Reference: CIS Apple macOS 14.0 Sonoma Benchmark v3.1.0 - 1.7 Ensure Software Update Deferment Is Less Than or Equal to 30 Days

Check this host

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

shell

tmaegis scan --target macos