The macOS system must require an administrator password to modify systemwide preferences.

Severity
Group ID
Group Title
Version
Rule ID
Date
STIG Version
highV-268514SRG-OS-000324-GPOS-00125APPL-15-002069SV-268514r1034482_rule2025-02-201
Description
The system must be configured to require an administrator password to modify the systemwide preferences in System Settings. Some Preference Panes in System Settings contain settings that affect the entire system. Requiring a password to unlock these systemwide settings reduces the risk of an unauthorized user modifying system configurations.
ℹ️ Check
Verify the macOS system is configured to require administrator privileges to modify systemwide settings with the following command: authDBs=("system.preferences" "system.preferences.energysaver" "system.preferences.network" "system.preferences.printing" "system.preferences.sharing" "system.preferences.softwareupdate" "system.preferences.startupdisk" "system.preferences.timemachine") result="1" for section in ${authDBs[@]}; do if [[ $(/usr/bin/security -q authorizationdb read "$section" | /usr/bin/xmllint -xpath 'name(//*[contains(text(), "shared")]/following-sibling::*[1])' -) != "false" ]]; then result="0" fi if [[ $(security -q authorizationdb read "$section" | /usr/bin/xmllint -xpath '//*[contains(text(), "group")]/following-sibling::*[1]/text()' - ) != "admin" ]]; then result="0" fi if [[ $(/usr/bin/security -q authorizationdb read "$section" | /usr/bin/xmllint -xpath 'name(//*[contains(text(), "authenticate-user")]/following-sibling::*[1])' -) != "true" ]]; then result="0" fi if [[ $(/usr/bin/security -q authorizationdb read "$section" | /usr/bin/xmllint -xpath 'name(//*[contains(text(), "session-owner")]/following-sibling::*[1])' -) != "false" ]]; then result="0" fi done echo $result If the result is not "1", this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Configure the macOS system to require administrator privileges to modify systemwide settings with the following command: authDBs=("system.preferences" "system.preferences.energysaver" "system.preferences.network" "system.preferences.printing" "system.preferences.sharing" "system.preferences.softwareupdate" "system.preferences.startupdisk" "system.preferences.timemachine") for section in ${authDBs[@]}; do /usr/bin/security -q authorizationdb read "$section" > "/tmp/$section.plist" class_key_value=$(usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print :class" "/tmp/$section.plist" 2>&1) if [[ "$class_key_value" == *"Does Not Exist"* ]]; then /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Add :class string user" "/tmp/$section.plist" else /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :class user" "/tmp/$section.plist" fi key_value=$(/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print :shared" "/tmp/$section.plist" 2>&1) if [[ "$key_value" == *"Does Not Exist"* ]]; then /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Add :shared bool false" "/tmp/$section.plist" else /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :shared false" "/tmp/$section.plist" fi auth_user_key=$(/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print :authenticate-user" "/tmp/$section.plist" 2>&1) if [[ "$auth_user_key" == *"Does Not Exist"* ]]; then /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Add :authenticate-user bool true" "/tmp/$section.plist" else /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :authenticate-user true" "/tmp/$section.plist" fi session_owner_key=$(/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print :session-owner" "/tmp/$section.plist" 2>&1) if [[ "$session_owner_key" == *"Does Not Exist"* ]]; then /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Add :session-owner bool false" "/tmp/$section.plist" else /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :session-owner false" "/tmp/$section.plist" fi group_key=$(usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print :group" "/tmp/$section.plist" 2>&1) if [[ "$group_key" == *"Does Not Exist"* ]]; then /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Add :group string admin" "/tmp/$section.plist" else /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :group admin" "/tmp/$section.plist" fi /usr/bin/security -q authorizationdb write "$section" < "/tmp/$section.plist" done