apple / apple/password-manager-resources

Encoding password expiry in the rules?

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Description

I apologize if this proposal is too off-topic.

Right now, the focus of the Password Rules Language seems to be on the characters it is made up of (and their length). However, a frequent requirement in enterprise environments is to have the entire password expire (regardless of its composition) at a regular basis. I've also seen websites that do this (particularly in finance).

I'm not _sure_ the rules format is the right place to encode this additional piece of information. But if it is, I would propose an extension such as:

expiry: 12-months;

Where `-months` can also be `-days` and perhaps `-weeks` (neither of which map 1:1 to a month).

This could help client software anticipate an upcoming expiry. For example, a password manager (incl. a web browser) could show you a "make sure to update these passwords by date x" view. In addition, when a password _has_ expired, the password manager would have machine-readable information on why a login fails.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by reviewing the Password Rules Language and its existing rule syntax to determine whether password expiry belongs in the format. Compare the proposed expiry metadata with the needs of client software, including password managers, and document the project decision and resulting semantics if the proposal is accepted.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
security
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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