What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on 5.2 Use Unique Passwords?

Password policy configuration showing length minimums of 8 with MFA and 14 without; Privileged password management or LAPS records showing unique local passwords; Password audit results.

What is the most common gap auditors find on 5.2?

Same local administrator password across devices

CIS Controls v8.1 · CIS Control 5: Account Management

`5.2` Use Unique Passwords

Use a unique password for every enterprise asset. Good practice sets a floor of 8 characters for accounts protected by multi-factor authentication and 14 characters where MFA is not used. Implementation Groups: IG1, IG2 and IG3 (part of the IG1 essential cyber hygiene baseline, so every enterprise applies it). Asset type: Users. Security function: Protect.

Source: CIS Controls v8.1, 5.2. The statement above is our statement of the clause, read from the published text and cited so you can check it against the official text, not the instrument verbatim. Open CIS Controls v8.1 in the compliance library.

Scope: Implementation Groups: IG1, IG2, IG3. Security function: Protect; asset type: Users.

Each safeguard shows its Implementation Groups. IG1 is the essential baseline for every enterprise, IG2 adds to it, IG3 is all 153. Version 8.1 adds the Govern security function and asks for more processes to be documented; numbering is unchanged from v8.

artefacts

held by a system

at each review

moderate

to go live

Identity provider / directory

where the evidence lives

teal = a system already holds it · olive = produced at each review. To go live: easy when half or more of the artefacts are already held by a system, moderate from a quarter to a half, hard below a quarter.

These are the artefacts auditors commonly ask for on this requirement, our guidance rather than text from the standard. Your assessor decides what is sufficient in your context, and asks for samples across the period when a report covers one.

system holds itEvidence a system already holds

Password policy configuration showing length minimums of 8 with MFA and 14 without · Identity provider / directory

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

Privileged password management or LAPS records showing unique local passwords · Identity provider / directory
Password audit results · Identity provider / directory

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

none for this control

First move

Start with the 1 of 3 artefacts that already live in a system (Identity provider / directory); keep the periodic reviews but log each one as a dated record with a named reviewer.

Common gaps auditors find

Same local administrator password across devices
Length minimum below policy on legacy systems
Shared accounts with shared passwords

Do this for your whole sheet

Paste the rows you run your controls from and get this mapping for every control at once, with the periodic-review ones flagged and a first move per row. No account for the first run.

Build my evidence sheet

5.1 Establish and Maintain an Inventory of Accounts · 5.3 Disable Dormant Accounts