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# AWS IAM password policy does not expire in 90 days misconfiguration detected in code

## Rule Details

|                        |                                      |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| Cortex AppSec Rule ID  | APPSEC\_AWS\_9                       |
| Category - Subcategory | IAM - Authentication Policies        |
| Provider               | AWS                                  |
| Severity               | LOW                                  |
| Framework              | Terraform, Terraform Plan            |
| Mapped CSPM/KSPM Rule  | f53107a2-00b2-46fb-98a9-1f12262c7d44 |

## Impact

Password policies are used to enforce the creation and use of password complexity. Your IAM password policy should require passwords to be rotated or expired within a specified timeframe, we recommend passwords expire after 90 days or less.

Reducing the lifetime of a password by enforcing regular password changes increases account resilience towards:

* Brute force attack.
* Passwords being stolen or compromised, sometimes without your knowledge.
* Web filters and proxy servers intercepting and recording traffic, including encrypted data.
* Use of the same user password across work, email, and personal systems.
* End user workstations compromised by a keystroke logger.

## How to Fix

## \[source,go]

resource "aws\_iam\_account\_password\_policy" "strict" { ...

* max\_password\_age = 89 # greater than 0, less than 90 }

***


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