CWE-263: Password Aging with Long Expiration

What is Password Aging with Long Expiration?

• Overview: Password aging with long expiration is a vulnerability where the system allows users to keep the same password for an extended period, increasing the risk of password cracking before a mandatory change is enforced.

• Exploitation Methods:

• Attackers can exploit this by using password cracking techniques over a longer time frame.
• Common attack patterns include brute force attacks, dictionary attacks, and leveraging stolen hashes to guess passwords without time pressure.

• Security Impact:

• Direct consequences include unauthorized access to user accounts.
• Potential cascading effects can lead to further system compromise if the attacker gains privileged access.
• Business impact includes data breaches, loss of customer trust, and potential legal ramifications due to non-compliance with security standards.

• Prevention Guidelines:

• Specific code-level fixes include implementing shorter password expiration policies and incorporating stronger password hashing algorithms.
• Security best practices involve educating users about creating strong passwords and using multi-factor authentication.
• Recommended tools and frameworks include password managers to encourage secure password practices and libraries that support strong, slow hashing functions like bcrypt or Argon2.

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Technical Details

Likelihood of Exploit: Low

Affected Languages: Not Language-Specific

Affected Technologies: Not specified

Vulnerable Code Example

import datetime

class User:
    def __init__(self, username, password):
        self.username = username
        self.password = password
        # Vulnerable: Password expiration set to 365 days, which is too long.
        self.password_expiration_date = datetime.datetime.now() + datetime.timedelta(days=365)

    def is_password_expired(self):
        return datetime.datetime.now() > self.password_expiration_date

Explanation:

• Vulnerability: This code sets the password expiration to 365 days, which is a long duration. Such a lengthy period without password changes increases the risk of password compromise, as it gives potential attackers more time to exploit stale credentials.

How to fix Password Aging with Long Expiration?

To mitigate the risk of password compromise, reduce the password expiration period. Industry best practices recommend a password expiration period of no more than 90 days. This encourages users to update their passwords regularly, thus enhancing security. Additionally, implementing password strength requirements and multi-factor authentication can further protect user accounts.

Fixed Code Example

import datetime

class User:
    def __init__(self, username, password):
        self.username = username
        self.password = password
        # Fixed: Password expiration set to 90 days for better security.
        self.password_expiration_date = datetime.datetime.now() + datetime.timedelta(days=90)

    def is_password_expired(self):
        return datetime.datetime.now() > self.password_expiration_date

Explanation:

• Fix: The password expiration period is reduced from 365 days to 90 days, which aligns with best practices for password management. This change promotes regular password updates, thereby reducing the risk of unauthorized access due to compromised credentials. Additionally, consider implementing password complexity requirements and multi-factor authentication to further enhance security.