# Weak Password Requirements (CWE-521)

The product does not require that users should have strong passwords, which makes it easier for attackers to compromise user accounts.

**Stack:** Go

- Prevalence: High Frequently exploited
- Impact: High 1 high-severity rules
- Prevention: Documented 2 fix examples

**OWASP:** Identification and Authentication Failures (A07:2021-Identification and Authentication Failures) - #7

## Description

Without strong password requirements, users often choose weak, easily guessable passwords. This makes brute-force and dictionary attacks more likely to succeed.

## Prevention

Prevention strategies for Weak Password Requirements based on 1 Shoulder detection rules.

### Go

Enforce minimum 12-character passwords with complexity requirements

## Consequences

- Gain Privileges
- Bypass Protection Mechanism

## Mitigations

- Enforce minimum password length (12+ characters recommended)
- Check passwords against known breach databases
- Implement multi-factor authentication

## Detection

- Total rules: 2
- Languages: go, javascript, typescript

## Rules by Language

### Go (1 rules)

- **Weak Password Policy** [MEDIUM]: Password validation requires fewer than 8 characters.
  - Remediation: Enforce minimum password length of 12+ characters with complexity requirements.

```go
func validatePassword(password string) error {
    if len(password) < 12 {
        return errors.New("password must be at least 12 characters")
    }
    // Add complexity checks: uppercase, lowercase, digit, special char
    return nil
}
```

Learn more: https://shoulder.dev/learn/go/cwe-521/weak-password-policy