IA.L2-3.5.7 Password Complexity
Set a minimum complexity for passwords, and require that a newly created password differ in its characters from the one it replaces.
Source: CMMC 2.0, IA.L2-3.5.7. 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 CMMC 2.0 in the compliance library.
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
- Configured password complexity settings · Identity provider / directory
periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review
none for this control
governing documentDocuments that govern the control
- Setting or procedure requiring changed characters on password creation · Policy repository / GRC workspace
- Coverage across directories and standalone systems · Policy repository / GRC workspace
First move
Common gaps auditors find
- Complexity enforced centrally but not on local or application accounts
- Character change requirement absent so minor edits are accepted
- Policy documented without technical enforcement
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 sheetIA.L2-3.5.6 Identifier Handling · IA.L2-3.5.8 Password Reuse