[MacTUG] OS X password length limit... not eight characters?

[Ian Turner]

from a "man passwd " in Snow Leopard

The passwd utility changes the user's password.  If the user is not the 
super-user, passwd first prompts for the current password and
      will not continue unless the correct password is entered.

      When entering the new password, the characters entered do not 
echo, in order to avoid the password being seen by a passer-by.  The
      passwd utility prompts for the new password twice in order to 
detect typing errors.

      The new password should be at least six characters long and not 
purely alphabetic.  Its total length should be less than _PASSWORD_LEN
      (currently 128 characters), although some directory systems allow 
longer passwords.  Numbers, upper case letters, and meta characters
      are encouraged.


On 2010/12/13 16:40 , Daniel Allen wrote:
> Googling "OS X password length" finds me the only official Apple
> support document that seems to mention password length:
>
> Mac OS X: Effective Password Length of Eight Characters
> http://support.apple.com/kb/TA20725
>
> Is there an effective limit? We're updating our password-changing
> process, and our Active Directory seems to accept 75+ character
> passwords without a problem. Preliminary checks seem to suggest the
> macs are fine with 90-character passwords, but I haven't tested many
> of the uses (eg, keychain).
>
> I'd mostly like to rule out some weird circumstance where the limit
> was still 8 characters (Leopard onward).
>
> Thanks,
> -Daniel
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