SV-25149r1: Group Policy objects are not reprocessed if they have not changed. | Windows 7 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Loading benchmark…

Assessment Title

Rule Text

Group Policy objects are not reprocessed if they have not changed.

Description

Discussion Text

Enabling this setting and then selecting the "Process even if the Group Policy objects have not changed" option ensures that the policies will be reprocessed even if none have been changed. This way, any unauthorized changes are forced to match the domain-based group policy settings again.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000366CCE-9361-7

Additional Details

Third-Party Tools

Responsibility

System Administrator

References

DPMS Target Windows 7 DISA DPMS Target Windows 7 1712

Checks

OVAL

oval:mil.disa.fso.windows:var:380000 ← xccdf_mil.disa.stig_value_registry_policy_processing_var

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:3800
# Group Policy objects are not reprocessed if they have not changed.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# Registry Policy Variable = -1
# variable_object (variable_test)
function test_1 {
  return ((echo '2') -eq -1)
}
# HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2} does not exist
# registry_object (registry_test)
function test_2 {
  return (-not ($null -ne (Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}' -Name '')))
}
# Registry Policy Variable = 0
# variable_object (variable_test)
function test_3 {
  return ((echo '2') -eq 0)
}
# HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}!NoBackgroundPolicy value equals 0
# registry_object (registry_test)
function test_4 {
  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\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}').GetValueKind('NoBackgroundPolicy').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}' -Name 'NoBackgroundPolicy' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'NoBackgroundPolicy') -eq 0))
}
# HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}!NoGPOListChanges value equals 1
# registry_object (registry_test)
function test_5 {
  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\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}').GetValueKind('NoGPOListChanges').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}' -Name 'NoGPOListChanges' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'NoGPOListChanges') -eq 1))
}
# Registry Policy Variable = 1
# variable_object (variable_test)
function test_6 {
  return ((echo '2') -eq 1)
}
# HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}!NoBackgroundPolicy value equals 1
# registry_object (registry_test)
function test_7 {
  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\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}').GetValueKind('NoBackgroundPolicy').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}' -Name 'NoBackgroundPolicy' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'NoBackgroundPolicy') -eq 1))
}
# HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}!NoGPOListChanges value equals 1
# registry_object (registry_test)
function test_8 {
  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\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}').GetValueKind('NoGPOListChanges').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}' -Name 'NoGPOListChanges' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'NoGPOListChanges') -eq 1))
}
# Registry Policy Variable = 2
# variable_object (variable_test)
function test_9 {
  return ((echo '2') -eq 2)
}
# HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}!NoBackgroundPolicy value equals 0
# registry_object (registry_test)
function test_10 {
  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\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}').GetValueKind('NoBackgroundPolicy').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}' -Name 'NoBackgroundPolicy' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'NoBackgroundPolicy') -eq 0))
}
# HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}!NoGPOListChanges value equals 0
# registry_object (registry_test)
function test_11 {
  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\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}').GetValueKind('NoGPOListChanges').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}' -Name 'NoGPOListChanges' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'NoGPOListChanges') -eq 0))
}
# Registry Policy Variable = 3
# variable_object (variable_test)
function test_12 {
  return ((echo '2') -eq 3)
}
# HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}!NoBackgroundPolicy value equals 1
# registry_object (registry_test)
function test_13 {
  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\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}').GetValueKind('NoBackgroundPolicy').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}' -Name 'NoBackgroundPolicy' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'NoBackgroundPolicy') -eq 1))
}
# HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}!NoGPOListChanges value equals 0
# registry_object (registry_test)
function test_14 {
  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\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}').GetValueKind('NoGPOListChanges').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}' -Name 'NoGPOListChanges' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'NoGPOListChanges') -eq 0))
}

if (((test_1 -and test_2) -or (test_3 -and test_4 -and test_5) -or (test_6 -and test_7 -and test_8) -or (test_9 -and test_10 -and test_11) -or (test_12 -and test_13 -and test_14))) {
  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 windows_7 target this check assesses.

# OVAL Definition: oval:mil.disa.fso.windows:def:3800
$registryPath = "HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy"
$registryKey = "{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}"
if (!(Test-Path $registryPath)) {exit 1}
if ((Get-ItemProperty -Path "$registryPath\$registryKey" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).NoBackgroundPolicy -eq 0 -or (Get-ItemProperty -Path "$registryPath\$registryKey" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).NoGPOListChanges -eq 1) {exit 1}
if (!(Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\PolicyAcknowledge\Parameters" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).RegistryPolicyProcessing -eq 1) {exit 1}
exit 0

Remediation

Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Group Policy “Registry Policy Processing” to “Enabled” and select the option “Process even if the Group Policy objects have not changed”.