SV-226345r794646: User Account Control must switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation. | Microsoft Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 Domain Controller STIG SCAP Benchmark

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

User Account Control must switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation.

Description

Discussion Text

User Account Control (UAC) is a security mechanism for limiting the elevation of privileges, including administrative accounts, unless authorized. This setting ensures that the elevation prompt is only used in secure desktop mode.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-001084CCE-23656-2SV-52952V-14241

References

DPMS Target Microsoft Windows Server 2012-2012 R2 DC DISA DPMS Target Microsoft Windows Server 2012-2012 R2 DC 4217

Checks

OVAL

oval:mil.disa.fso.windows:var:461000 ← xccdf_mil.disa.stig_value_switch_secure_desktop_prompting_elevation_var

DISA STIG (Manual Reference)

UAC requirements are NA on Server Core installations.

If the following registry value does not exist or is not configured as specified, this is a finding:

Registry Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE 
Registry Path: \Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\

Value Name: PromptOnSecureDesktop

Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

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.fso.windows:def:4610
# User Account Control must switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# Verifies 'User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation' is set to 'Enabled'
# 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('PromptOnSecureDesktop').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System' -Name 'PromptOnSecureDesktop' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'PromptOnSecureDesktop') -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_2012_and_2012_r2_dc target this check assesses.

# OVAL Definition: oval:mil.disa.fso.windows:def:4610
$regPath = "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System"
$regKey = "PromptOnSecureDesktop"
$regValue = 1
if (Test-Path $regPath -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue){
    $regData = Get-ItemProperty -Path $regPath -Name $regKey -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    if ($regData.$regKey -eq $regValue){
        Write-Output "PASS"
        Exit 0
    }
}
Write-Output "FAIL"
Exit 1

Remediation

UAC requirements are NA on Server Core installations.

Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options -> "User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation" to "Enabled".