SV-253285r1153425: The Windows PowerShell 2.0 feature must be disabled on the system. | Microsoft Windows 11 STIG SCAP Benchmark

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

The Windows PowerShell 2.0 feature must be disabled on the system.

Description

Discussion Text

Windows PowerShell 5.0 added advanced logging features, which can provide additional detail when malware has been run on a system. Disabling the Windows PowerShell 2.0 mitigates against a downgrade attack that evades the Windows PowerShell 5.0 script block logging feature.

How this relates to the STIG checklist: STIG vs SCAP benchmark.

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000381

References

DPMS Target Microsoft Windows 11 DISA DPMS Target Microsoft Windows 11 5471

SCC Automation Reference

The reconstructed evaluation script behind this rule's OVAL check(s) — every module a compound check combines, with this rule's own concrete values and DISA's SCC tool's real per-module mechanism curated from static teardown of SCC releases.

# Windows PowerShell
# Reconstructed from oval:mil.disa.stig.windows11:def:253285
# The Windows PowerShell 2.0 feature must be disabled on the system.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# Check the WMI Objects to see if the Windows PowerShell 2.0 Win32_OptionalFeature is at InstallState 2
# wmi57_object (wmi57_test)
function test_1 {
  return (((Get-CimInstance -Namespace 'root\cimv2' -Query 'SELECT installstate FROM win32_optionalfeature WHERE name = ''MicrosoftWindowsPowerShellV2Root''' | Select-Object -First 1) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'installstate') -eq '2')
}
# Check the WMI Objects to see if the Windows PowerShell 2.0 Engine Win32_OptionalFeature is at InstallState 2
# wmi57_object (wmi57_test)
function test_2 {
  return (((Get-CimInstance -Namespace 'root\cimv2' -Query 'SELECT installstate FROM win32_optionalfeature WHERE name = ''MicrosoftWindowsPowerShellV2''' | Select-Object -First 1) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'installstate') -eq '2')
}

if ((test_1 -and test_2)) {
  Write-Output "PASS"
} else {
  Write-Output "FAIL"
}

Assessment Script Powered by AISyntax-verified

A standalone PowerShell script to assess this control automatically. Review before running it in your environment.

Syntax-checked as valid PowerShell. Not executed here — running it for real needs the actual ms_windows_11 target this check assesses.

# OVAL Definition: oval:mil.disa.stig.windows11:def:253285
if (!(Get-CimInstance -Namespace "root\cimv2" -ClassName Win32_OptionalFeature -Filter "Name='MicrosoftWindowsPowerShellV2Root'").InstallState -eq 2 -and!(Get-CimInstance -Namespace "root\cimv2" -ClassName Win32_OptionalFeature -Filter "Name='MicrosoftWindowsPowerShellV2'").InstallState -eq 2) { Write-Output "FAIL"; Exit 1 } else { Write-Output "PASS"; Exit 0 }

Remediation

Disable "Windows PowerShell 2.0" on the system.

Run "Windows PowerShell" with elevated privileges (run as administrator).
Enter the following:
Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName MicrosoftWindowsPowerShellV2Root

This command must disable both "MicrosoftWindowsPowerShellV2Root" and "MicrosoftWindowsPowerShellV2", which correspond to "Windows PowerShell 2.0" and "Windows PowerShell 2.0 Engine" respectively in "Turn Windows features on or off".

Alternately:
Search for "Features".
Select "Turn Windows features on or off".
De-select "Windows PowerShell 2.0".