Windows Server 2025 manually managed application account passwords must be changed at least annually or when a system administrator with knowledge of the password leaves the organization.

Setting application account passwords to expire may cause applications to stop functioning. However, not changing them on a regular basis exposes them to attack. If managed service accounts are used, this alleviates the need to manually change application account passwords.

Determine if manually managed application/service accounts exist. If none exist, this is not applicable. If passwords for manually managed application/service accounts are not changed at least annually or when an administrator with knowledge of the password leaves the organization, this is a finding. Identify manually managed application/service accounts. To determine the date a password was last changed for domain controllers: Open PowerShell. Enter "Get-AdUser -Identity [application account name] -Properties PasswordLastSet | FT Name, PasswordLastSet", where [application account name] is the name of the manually managed application/service account. If the "PasswordLastSet" date is more than one year old, this is a finding. For member servers and stand-alone or nondomain-joined systems: Open command prompt. Enter 'Net User [application account name] | Find /i "Password Last Set"', where [application account name] is the name of the manually managed application/service account. If the "Password Last Set" date is more than one year old, this is a finding.

Change passwords for manually managed application/service accounts at least annually or when an administrator with knowledge of the password leaves the organization. It is recommended that system-managed service accounts be used whenever possible.