SV-29688r1: Reversible password encryption is not disabled. | Windows Vista Security Technical Implementation Guide

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

Reversible password encryption is not 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 should never be enabled.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000196CCE-3311-8

Additional Details

Responsibility

System Administrator

References

DPMS Target Windows Vista DISA DPMS Target Windows Vista 1029

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:113
# Reversible password encryption is not disabled.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# Ensure reversible password encryption is 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 'false')
}

if (-not (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 windows_vista target this check assesses.

# OVAL Definition: oval:mil.disa.fso.windows:def:113
$passwordPolicy = Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_LocalAdvancedSecuritySetting -Filter "SettingName = 'PasswordProperties'"
if ($passwordPolicy -and $passwordPolicy.ReversibleEncryptionAllowed -eq $false) { Write-Output "PASS"; Exit 0 } 
Write-Output "FAIL"; Exit 1

Remediation

Configure the system to prevent passwords from being saved using reverse encryption.