macOS
TMA-MACOS15-5.7
Ensure an Administrator Account Cannot Login to Another User's Active and Locked Session
Description
macOS has a privilege that can be granted to any user that will allow that user to unlock active users' sessions. Note: For organizations that are using Platform Single-Sign-On (PSSO), this setting can cause issues with syncing with your PSSO. See the note in the audit to verify if you are using PSSO. Audit: Organisations using Platform SSO (app-sso platform -s shows a configuration) should not apply this change.
How it is checked
Audit method: Shell command
out=$(/usr/bin/security authorizationdb read system.login.screensaver 2>&1) || exit 1
printf '%s\n' "$out" | /usr/bin/awk -F "[<>]" '$3=="authenticate-session-owner" { ++x } END { print x+0 }'- Expected output
1
How it is fixed
Fix method: Guidance or infrastructure patch
Terminal: sudo /usr/bin/security authorizationdb write system.login.screensaver authenticate-session-owner ; sudo /usr/bin/defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow screenUnlockMode -int 1.
Properties
- Operating systems
- macos-15
- Tags
- macossystem-access
- Reference
- CIS Apple macOS 15.0 Sequoia Benchmark v2.1.0 - 5.7 Ensure an Administrator Account Cannot Login to Another User's Active and Locked Session
Check this host
Run this on a machine you are allowed to audit. The scan is read-only.
tmaegis scan --target macos