SV-253473r958518: User Account Control must only elevate UIAccess applications that are installed in secure locations. | Microsoft Windows 11 STIG SCAP Benchmark

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

User Account Control must only elevate UIAccess applications that are installed in secure locations.

Description

Discussion Text

User Account Control (UAC) is a security mechanism for limiting the elevation of privileges, including administrative accounts, unless authorized. This setting configures Windows to only allow applications installed in a secure location on the file system, such as the Program Files or the Windows\System32 folders, to run with elevated privileges.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-001084

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:253473
# User Account Control must only elevate UIAccess applications that are installed in secure locations.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# registry_object (registry_test)
function test_1 {
  return (((@{String='reg_sz';ExpandString='reg_expand_sz';Binary='reg_binary';DWord='reg_dword';MultiString='reg_multi_sz';QWord='reg_qword';None='reg_none'}[(Get-Item -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System').GetValueKind('EnableSecureUIAPaths').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System' -Name 'EnableSecureUIAPaths' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'EnableSecureUIAPaths') -eq 1))
}

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:253473
$compliant = (Get-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System' -Name 'EnableSecureUIAPaths' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).EnableSecureUIAPaths -eq 1
if ($compliant) {Write-Output "PASS"; exit 0} else {Write-Output "FAIL"; exit 1}

Remediation

Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Windows Settings >> Security Settings >> Local Policies >> Security Options >> "User Account Control: Only elevate UIAccess applications that are installed in secure locations" to "Enabled".