SV-253305r1051046: Reversible password encryption must be disabled. | Microsoft Windows 11 STIG SCAP Benchmark

Loading benchmark…

Assessment Title

Rule Text

Reversible password encryption must be disabled.

Description

Discussion Text

Storing passwords using reversible encryption is essentially the same as storing clear-text versions of the passwords. For this reason, this policy must never be enabled.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-004062Not mappedCCI-000196

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:253305
# Reversible password encryption must be disabled.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# 'Store password using reversible encryption' is set to 'Disabled'
# passwordpolicy_object (passwordpolicy_test)
function test_1 {
  return (($__tmp = "$env:TEMP\scc_securitypolicy_$([guid]::NewGuid().Guid).cfg"; secedit /export /cfg $__tmp /areas SECURITYPOLICY /quiet | Out-Null; $__m = Select-String -Path $__tmp -Pattern '^ClearTextPassword\s*=\s*(\d+)'; Remove-Item $__tmp -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue; if ($__m) { $__m.Matches[0].Groups[1].Value.Trim() } else { '' }) -eq '0')
}

if (test_1) {
  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:253305
$passwordPolicy = Get-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\' -Name 'ClearTextPasswordStorageAllowed'
if ($passwordPolicy.ClearTextPasswordStorageAllowed -eq 0) { Write-Output "PASS"; exit 0 } else { Write-Output "FAIL"; exit 1 }

Remediation

Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Windows Settings >> Security Settings >> Account Policies >> Password Policy >> "Store passwords using reversible encryption" to "Disabled".