The built-in Windows password complexity policy must be enabled. (V-225273) — Microsoft Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 Member Server Security Technical Implementation Guide

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Version

CurrentPublished Thu Nov 09 2023

Objective ID

Severity

Discussion

V-225239

medium

Inadequate physical protection can undermine all other security precautions utilized to protect the system. This can jeopardize the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of the system. Physical security is the first line of protection of any system.

V-225240

medium

Administrative accounts may perform any action on a system. Users with administrative accounts must be documented to ensure those with this level of access are clearly identified.

V-225241

high

Using a privileged account to perform routine functions makes the computer vulnerable to malicious software inadvertently introduced during a session that has been granted full privileges.

V-225242

medium

If SAs are assigned to systems running operating systems for which they have no training, these systems are at additional risk of unintentional misconfiguration that may result in vulnerabilities or decreased availability of the system.

V-225243

medium

The longer a password is in use, the greater the opportunity for someone to gain unauthorized knowledge of the password. The password for the built-in Administrator account must be changed at least annually or when any member of the administrative team leaves the organization.

It is highly recommended to use Microsoft's Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS). Domain-joined systems can configure this to occur more frequently. LAPS will change the password every "30" days by default. The AO still has the overall authority to use another equivalent capability to accomplish the check.

V-225244

high

Using applications that access the Internet or have potential Internet sources using administrative privileges exposes a system to compromise. If a flaw in an application is exploited while running as a privileged user, the entire system could be compromised. Web browsers and email are common attack vectors for introducing malicious code and must not be run with an administrative account.

Since administrative accounts may generally change or work around technical restrictions for running a web browser or other applications, it is essential that policy requires administrative accounts to not access the Internet or use applications, such as email.

The policy should define specific exceptions for local service administration. These exceptions may include HTTP(S)-based tools that are used for the administration of the local system, services, or attached devices.

Technical means such as application whitelisting can be used to enforce the policy to ensure compliance.

V-225245

medium

Backup Operators are able to read and write to any file in the system, regardless of the rights assigned to it. Backup and restore rights permit users to circumvent the file access restrictions present on NTFS disk drives for backup and restore purposes. Visibility of members of the Backup Operators group must be maintained.

V-225246

medium

Backup Operators are able to read and write to any file in the system, regardless of the rights assigned to it. Backup and restore rights permit users to circumvent the file access restrictions present on NTFS disk drives for backup and restore purposes. Members of the Backup Operators group must have separate logon accounts for performing backup duties.

V-225247

medium

Application/service account passwords must be of sufficient length to prevent being easily cracked. Application/service accounts that are manually managed must have passwords at least 15 characters in length.

V-225248

medium

Setting application accounts to expire may cause applications to stop functioning. However, not changing them on a regular basis exposes them to attack. If managed service accounts are used, this alleviates the need to manually change application account passwords.

V-225249

medium

Shared accounts (accounts where two or more people log in with the same user identification) do not provide adequate identification and authentication. There is no way to provide for nonrepudiation or individual accountability for system access and resource usage.

V-225250

low

Security configuration tools such as Group Policies and Security Templates allow system administrators to consolidate security-related system settings into a single configuration file. These settings can then be applied consistently to any number of Windows machines.

V-225251

low

Operating system backup is a critical step in maintaining data assurance and availability.

System-level information includes system-state information, operating system and application software, and licenses.

Backups must be consistent with organizational recovery time and recovery point objectives.

V-225252

low

Operating system backup is a critical step in maintaining data assurance and availability.

User-level information is data generated by information system and/or application users.

Backups shall be consistent with organizational recovery time and recovery point objectives.

V-225253

low

A system backup will usually include sensitive information such as user accounts that could be used in an attack. As a valuable system resource, the system backup must be protected and stored in a physically secure location.

V-225254

low

Operating system backup is a critical step in maintaining data assurance and availability.

Information system and security-related documentation contains information pertaining to system configuration and security settings.

Backups shall be consistent with organizational recovery time and recovery point objectives.

V-225255

medium

Utilizing an allowlist provides a configuration management method for allowing the execution of only authorized software. Using only authorized software decreases risk by limiting the number of potential vulnerabilities.

The organization must identify authorized software programs and only permit execution of authorized software. The process used to identify software programs that are authorized to execute on organizational information systems is commonly referred to as allowlisting.

V-225256

medium

Information can be either unintentionally or maliciously disclosed or modified during preparation for transmission, for example, during aggregation, at protocol transformation points, and during packing/unpacking. These unauthorized disclosures or modifications compromise the confidentiality or integrity of the information.

Ensuring the confidentiality of transmitted information requires the operating system to take measures in preparing information for transmission. This can be accomplished via access control and encryption.

Use of this requirement will be limited to situations where the data owner has a strict requirement for ensuring data integrity and confidentiality is maintained at every step of the data transfer and handling process. When transmitting data, operating systems need to support transmission protection mechanisms such as TLS, encrypted VPNs, or IPSEC.

V-225257

medium

This requirement addresses protection of user-generated data, as well as operating system-specific configuration data. Organizations may choose to employ different mechanisms to achieve confidentiality and integrity protections, as appropriate, in accordance with the security category and/or classification of the information.

Selection of a cryptographic mechanism is based on the need to protect the integrity of organizational information. The strength of the mechanism is commensurate with the security category and/or classification of the information. Organizations have the flexibility to either encrypt all information on storage devices (i.e., full disk encryption) or encrypt specific data structures (e.g., files, records, or fields).

V-225258

high

Malicious software can establish a base on individual desktops and servers. Employing an automated mechanism to detect this type of software will aid in elimination of the software from the operating system.

V-225259

medium

SMBv1 is a legacy protocol that uses the MD5 algorithm as part of SMB. MD5 is known to be vulnerable to a number of attacks such as collision and preimage attacks as well as not being FIPS compliant.

Disabling SMBv1 support may prevent access to file or print sharing resources with systems or devices that only support SMBv1. File shares and print services hosted on Windows Server 2003 are an example, however Windows Server 2003 is no longer a supported operating system. Some older network attached devices may only support SMBv1.

V-225260

medium

V-225261

medium

V-225262

medium

Accounts or groups given rights on a system may show up as unresolved SIDs for various reasons including deletion of the accounts or groups. If the account or group objects are reanimated, there is a potential they may still have rights no longer intended. Valid domain accounts or groups may also show up as unresolved SIDs if a connection to the domain cannot be established for some reason.

V-225263

medium

Later versions of Windows PowerShell provide additional security and advanced logging features that can provide greater detail when malware has been run on a system. PowerShell 5.x includes the advanced logging features. PowerShell 4.0 with the addition of patch KB3000850 on Windows 2012 R2 or KB3119938 on Windows 2012 adds advanced logging features.

PowerShell is updated with the installation of the corresponding version of the Windows Management Framework (WMF).

Updating to a later PowerShell version may have compatibility issues with some applications. The following links should be reviewed and updates tested before applying to a production environment.

WMF 4.0:
Review the System Requirements under the download link - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40855

WMF 5.0:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/wmf/5.0/productincompat

WMF 5.1:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/wmf/5.1/productincompat

V-225264

medium

Maintaining an audit trail of system activity logs can help identify configuration errors, troubleshoot service disruptions, and analyze compromises that have occurred, as well as detect attacks. Audit logs are necessary to provide a trail of evidence in case the system or network is compromised. Collecting this data is essential for analyzing the security of information assets and detecting signs of suspicious and unexpected behavior.

Enabling PowerShell script block logging will record detailed information from the processing of PowerShell commands and scripts. This can provide additional detail when malware has run on a system.

PowerShell 5.x supports script block logging. PowerShell 4.0 with the addition of patch KB3000850 on Windows 2012 R2 or KB3119938 on Windows 2012 adds support for script block logging.

Satisfies: SRG-OS-000042-GPOS-00021

V-225265

medium

Windows PowerShell versions 4.0 (with a patch) and 5.x add advanced logging features that can provide additional detail when malware has been run on a system. Ensuring Windows PowerShell 2.0 is not installed as well mitigates against a downgrade attack that evades the advanced logging features of later Windows PowerShell versions.

V-225266

medium

The account lockout feature, when enabled, prevents brute-force password attacks on the system. This parameter specifies the period of time that an account will remain locked after the specified number of failed logon attempts.

V-225267

medium

The account lockout feature, when enabled, prevents brute-force password attacks on the system. The higher this value is, the less effective the account lockout feature will be in protecting the local system. The number of bad logon attempts must be reasonably small to minimize the possibility of a successful password attack, while allowing for honest errors made during a normal user logon.

V-225268

medium

The account lockout feature, when enabled, prevents brute-force password attacks on the system. This parameter specifies the period of time that must pass after failed logon attempts before the counter is reset to "0". The smaller this value is, the less effective the account lockout feature will be in protecting the local system.

V-225269

medium

A system is more vulnerable to unauthorized access when system users recycle the same password several times without being required to change to a unique password on a regularly scheduled basis. This enables users to effectively negate the purpose of mandating periodic password changes. The default value is 24 for Windows domain systems. DoD has decided this is the appropriate value for all Windows systems.

V-225270

medium

The longer a password is in use, the greater the opportunity for someone to gain unauthorized knowledge of the passwords. Scheduled changing of passwords hinders the ability of unauthorized system users to crack passwords and gain access to a system.

V-225271

medium

Permitting passwords to be changed in immediate succession within the same day allows users to cycle passwords through their history database. This enables users to effectively negate the purpose of mandating periodic password changes.

V-225272

medium

Information systems not protected with strong password schemes (including passwords of minimum length) provide the opportunity for anyone to crack the password, thus gaining access to the system and compromising the device, information, or the local network.

V-225273

medium

The use of complex passwords increases their strength against attack. The built-in Windows password complexity policy requires passwords to contain at least 3 of the 4 types of characters (numbers, upper- and lower-case letters, and special characters), as well as preventing the inclusion of user names or parts of.

V-225274

high

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.

V-225275

medium

V-225276

medium

V-225277

medium

V-225278

medium

V-225279

medium

V-225280

medium

V-225281

medium

V-225283

medium

V-225284

medium

Maintaining an audit trail of system activity logs can help identify configuration errors, troubleshoot service disruptions, and analyze compromises that have occurred, as well as detect attacks. Audit logs are necessary to provide a trail of evidence in case the system or network is compromised. Collecting this data is essential for analyzing the security of information assets and detecting signs of suspicious and unexpected behavior.

Logoff records user logoffs. If this is an interactive logoff, it is recorded on the local system. If it is to a network share, it is recorded on the system accessed.

V-225285

medium

Maintaining an audit trail of system activity logs can help identify configuration errors, troubleshoot service disruptions, and analyze compromises that have occurred, as well as detect attacks. Audit logs are necessary to provide a trail of evidence in case the system or network is compromised. Collecting this data is essential for analyzing the security of information assets and detecting signs of suspicious and unexpected behavior.

Logon records user logons. If this is an interactive logon, it is recorded on the local system. If it is to a network share, it is recorded on the system accessed.

V-225286

medium

Maintaining an audit trail of system activity logs can help identify configuration errors, troubleshoot service disruptions, and analyze compromises that have occurred, as well as detect attacks. Audit logs are necessary to provide a trail of evidence in case the system or network is compromised. Collecting this data is essential for analyzing the security of information assets and detecting signs of suspicious and unexpected behavior.

Logon records user logons. If this is an interactive logon, it is recorded on the local system. If it is to a network share, it is recorded on the system accessed.

V-225287

medium

V-225288

medium

Maintaining an audit trail of system activity logs can help identify configuration errors, troubleshoot service disruptions, and analyze compromises that have occurred, as well as detect attacks. Audit logs are necessary to provide a trail of evidence in case the system or network is compromised. Collecting this data is essential for analyzing the security of information assets and detecting signs of suspicious and unexpected behavior.

Central Access Policy Staging auditing under Object Access is used to enable the recording of events related to differences in permissions between central access policies and proposed policies.

V-225289

medium

Maintaining an audit trail of system activity logs can help identify configuration errors, troubleshoot service disruptions, and analyze compromises that have occurred, as well as detect attacks. Audit logs are necessary to provide a trail of evidence in case the system or network is compromised. Collecting this data is essential for analyzing the security of information assets and detecting signs of suspicious and unexpected behavior.

Central Access Policy Staging auditing under Object Access is used to enable the recording of events related to differences in permissions between central access policies and proposed policies.

V-225290

medium

V-225291

medium

V-225292

medium

V-225293

medium

V-225294

medium

V-225295

medium

V-225296

medium

V-225297

medium

V-225298

medium

V-225299

medium

V-225300

medium

V-225301

medium

V-225302

medium

V-225303

medium

V-225304

medium

V-225305

medium

V-225306

medium

To be of value, audit logs from critical systems must be reviewed on a regular basis. Critical systems should be reviewed on a daily basis to identify security breaches and potential weaknesses in the security structure. This can be done with the use of monitoring software or other utilities for this purpose.

V-225307

medium

Audit records are essential for investigating system activity after the fact. Retention periods for audit data are determined based on the sensitivity of the data handled by the system.

V-225308

medium

Protection of log data includes assuring the log data is not accidentally lost or deleted. Audit information stored in one location is vulnerable to accidental or incidental deletion or alteration.

V-225309

medium

Protection of log data includes assuring the log data is not accidentally lost or deleted. Audit information stored in one location is vulnerable to accidental or incidental deletion or alteration.

V-225310

medium

V-225311

medium

V-225312

medium

V-225313

medium

Protecting audit information also includes identifying and protecting the tools used to view and manipulate log data. Therefore, protecting audit tools is necessary to prevent unauthorized operation on audit information.

Operating systems providing tools to interface with audit information will leverage user permissions and roles identifying the user accessing the tools and the corresponding rights the user enjoys in order to make access decisions regarding the modification or deletion of audit tools.

V-225314

medium

The Mapper I/O network protocol (LLTDIO) driver allows the discovery of the connected network and allows various options to be enabled. Disabling this helps protect the system from potentially discovering and connecting to unauthorized devices.

V-225315

medium

The Responder network protocol driver allows a computer to be discovered and located on a network. Disabling this helps protect the system from potentially being discovered and connected to by unauthorized devices.

V-225316

medium

Peer-to-Peer applications can allow unauthorized access to a system and exposure of sensitive data. This setting will turn off the Microsoft Peer-to-Peer Networking Service.

V-225317

medium

A Network Bridge can connect two or more network segments, allowing unauthorized access or exposure of sensitive data. This setting prevents a Network Bridge from being installed and configured.

V-225318

low

Selecting an incorrect network location may allow greater exposure of a system. Elevation is required by default on nondomain systems to change network location. This setting configures elevation to also be required on domain-joined systems.

V-225319

low

Routing all Direct Access traffic through the internal network allows monitoring and prevents split tunneling.

V-225324

low

IP stateless autoconfiguration could configure routes that circumvent preferred routes if not limited.

V-225325

medium

Windows Connect Now allows the discovery and configuration of devices over wireless. Wireless devices must be managed. If a rogue device is connected to a system, there is potential for sensitive information to be compromised.

V-225326

medium

Windows Connect Now provides wizards for tasks such as "Set up a wireless router or access point" and must not be available to users. Functions such as these may allow unauthorized connections to a system and the potential for sensitive information to be compromised.

V-225327

low

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this capability will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.
This setting will prevent Windows from searching Windows Update for point and print drivers. Only the local driver store and server driver cache will be searched.

V-225328

low

Uncontrolled system updates can introduce issues to a system. Obtaining update components from an outside source may also potentially provide sensitive information outside of the enterprise. Optional component installation or repair must be obtained from an internal source.

V-225329

medium

Remote access to the Plug and Play interface could potentially allow connections by unauthorized devices. This setting configures remote access to the Plug and Play interface and must be disabled.

V-225330

low

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this capability will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.
This setting prevents an error report from being sent when a generic device driver is installed.

V-225331

low

A system restore point allows a rollback if an issue is encountered when a new device driver is installed.

V-225332

low

V-225333

low

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this capability will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.
This setting will prevent Windows from sending an error report to Microsoft when a device driver requests additional software during installation.

V-225334

low

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this capability will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.
This setting will prevent the system from searching Windows Update for device drivers.

V-225335

low

Uncontrolled system updates can introduce issues to a system. Obtaining update components from an outside source may also potentially provide sensitive information outside of the enterprise. Device driver updates must be obtained from an internal source.

V-225336

low

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this capability will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.
This setting prevents users from being prompted to search Windows Update for device drivers.

V-225337

medium

Compromised boot drivers can introduce malware prior to some protection mechanisms that load after initialization. The Early Launch Antimalware driver can limit allowed drivers based on classifications determined by the malware protection application. At a minimum, drivers determined to be bad must not be allowed.

V-225338

medium

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.

V-225339

medium

If this setting is enabled, then Group Policy settings are not refreshed while a user is currently logged on. This could lead to instances when a user does not have the latest changes to a policy applied and is therefore operating in an insecure context.

V-225340

medium

Uncontrolled installation of applications can introduce various issues, including system instability, and allow access to sensitive information. Installation of applications must be controlled by the enterprise. Turning off access to the Windows Store will limit access to publicly available applications.

V-225341

medium

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this capability will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.
This setting prevents the computer from downloading print driver packages over HTTP.

V-225342

low

Viewing events is a function of administrators, who must not access the internet with privileged accounts. This setting will disable Events.asp hyperlinks in Event Viewer to prevent links to the internet from within events.

V-225343

low

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this capability will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.
This setting prevents errors in handwriting recognition on tablet PCs from being reported to Microsoft.

V-225344

medium

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this capability will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.
This setting prevents unhandled file associations from using the Microsoft Web service to find an application.

V-225345

medium

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this capability will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.
This setting prevents the client computer from printing over HTTP, which allows the computer to print to printers on the intranet as well as the Internet.

V-225346

medium

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this capability will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.
This setting ensures the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program is disabled so information is not passed to the vendor.

V-225347

medium

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this capability will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.
This setting prevents Windows from searching Windows Update for device drivers when no local drivers for a device are present.

V-225348

medium

Allowing different input methods for sign-in could open different avenues of attack. User input methods must be restricted to those enabled for the system account at sign-in.

V-225349

medium

The username is one part of logon credentials that could be used to gain access to a system. Preventing the enumeration of users limits this information to authorized personnel.

V-225350

medium

App notifications that are displayed on the lock screen could display sensitive information to unauthorized personnel. Turning off this feature will limit access to the information to a logged on user.

V-225351

medium

Authentication must always be required when accessing a system. This setting ensures the user is prompted for a password on resume from sleep (on battery).

V-225352

medium

Authentication must always be required when accessing a system. This setting ensures the user is prompted for a password on resume from sleep (plugged in).

V-225353

medium

Remote assistance allows another user to view or take control of the local session of a user. Unsolicited remote assistance is help that is offered by the remote user. This may allow unauthorized parties access to the resources on the computer.

V-225354

high

Remote assistance allows another user to view or take control of the local session of a user. Solicited assistance is help that is specifically requested by the local user. This may allow unauthorized parties access to the resources on the computer.

V-225355

low

V-225356

medium

Configuring RPC to restrict unauthenticated RPC clients from connecting to the RPC server will prevent anonymous connections.

V-225357

low

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this feature will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.

V-225358

low

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this capability will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.
This setting prevents the MSDT from communicating with and sending collected data to Microsoft, the default support provider.

V-225359

low

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this capability will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.
This setting prevents users from searching troubleshooting content on Microsoft servers. Only local content will be available.

V-225360

low

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this capability will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.
This setting prevents responsiveness events from being aggregated and sent to Microsoft.

V-225361

low

The Windows Time Service controls time synchronization settings. Time synchronization is essential for authentication and auditing purposes. If the Windows Time Service is used, it must synchronize with a secure, authorized time source. Domain-joined systems are automatically configured to synchronize with domain controllers. If an NTP server is configured, it must synchronize with a secure, authorized time source.

V-225362

low

Enabling trusted app installation allows for enterprise line of business Windows 8 type apps. A trusted app package is one that is signed with a certificate chain that can be successfully validated in the enterprise. Configuring this ensures enterprise line of business apps are accessible.

V-225363

low

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this capability will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.
This setting will prevent the Program Inventory from collecting data about a system and sending the information to Microsoft.

V-225364

high

Allowing Autoplay to execute may introduce malicious code to a system. Autoplay begins reading from a drive as soon as media is inserted into the drive. As a result, the setup file of programs or music on audio media may start. This setting will disable Autoplay for non-volume devices (such as Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) devices).

V-225365

high

Allowing Autorun commands to execute may introduce malicious code to a system. Configuring this setting prevents Autorun commands from executing.

V-225366

high

Allowing Autoplay to execute may introduce malicious code to a system. Autoplay begins reading from a drive as soon media is inserted into the drive. As a result, the setup file of programs or music on audio media may start. By default, Autoplay is disabled on removable drives, such as the floppy disk drive (but not the CD-ROM drive) and on network drives. Enabling this policy disables Autoplay on all drives.

V-225367

medium

Allowing biometrics may bypass required authentication methods. Biometrics may only be used as an additional authentication factor where an enhanced strength of identity credential is necessary or desirable. Additional factors must be met per DoD policy.

V-225368

medium

Visible passwords may be seen by nearby persons, compromising them. The password reveal button can be used to display an entered password and must not be allowed.

V-225369

medium

Enumeration of administrator accounts when elevating can provide part of the logon information to an unauthorized user. This setting configures the system to always require users to enter in a username and password to elevate a running application.

V-225370

medium

Inadequate log size will cause the log to fill up quickly. This may prevent audit events from being recorded properly and require frequent attention by administrative personnel.

V-225371

medium

Inadequate log size will cause the log to fill up quickly. This may prevent audit events from being recorded properly and require frequent attention by administrative personnel.

V-225372

medium

Inadequate log size will cause the log to fill up quickly. This may prevent audit events from being recorded properly and require frequent attention by administrative personnel.

V-225373

medium

Inadequate log size will cause the log to fill up quickly. This may prevent audit events from being recorded properly and require frequent attention by administrative personnel.

V-225374

medium

Windows SmartScreen helps protect systems from programs downloaded from the Internet that may be malicious. Warning a user before running downloaded unknown software, at minimum, will help prevent potentially malicious programs from executing.

V-225375

medium

Data Execution Prevention (DEP) provides additional protection by performing checks on memory to help prevent malicious code from running. This setting will prevent Data Execution Prevention from being turned off for File Explorer.

V-225376

low

Legacy plug-in applications may continue to function when a File Explorer session has become corrupt. Disabling this feature will prevent this.

V-225377

medium

The shell protocol will limit the set of folders applications can open when run in protected mode. Restricting files an application can open to a limited set of folders increases the security of Windows.

V-225378

medium

The location service on systems may allow sensitive data to be used by applications on the system. This should be turned off unless explicitly allowed for approved systems/applications.

V-225379

medium

Saving passwords in the Remote Desktop Client could allow an unauthorized user to establish a remote desktop session to another system. The system must be configured to prevent users from saving passwords in the Remote Desktop Client.

V-225380

medium

Preventing users from sharing the local drives on their client computers to Remote Session Hosts that they access helps reduce possible exposure of sensitive data.

V-225381

medium

This setting controls the ability of users to supply passwords automatically as part of their remote desktop connection. Disabling this setting would allow anyone to use the stored credentials in a connection item to connect to the terminal server.

V-225382

medium

Remote connections must be encrypted to prevent interception of data or sensitive information. Selecting "High Level" will ensure encryption of Remote Desktop Services sessions in both directions.

V-225383

medium

Remote desktop session temporary folders must always be deleted after a session is over to prevent hard disk clutter and potential leakage of information. This setting controls the deletion of the temporary folders when the session is terminated.

V-225384

medium

If a communal temporary folder is used for remote desktop sessions, it might be possible for users to access other users' temporary folders. If this setting is enabled, only one temporary folder is used for all remote desktop sessions. Per session temporary folders must be established.

V-225385

medium

Attachments from RSS feeds may not be secure. This setting will prevent attachments from being downloaded from RSS feeds.

V-225386

medium

Basic authentication uses plain text passwords that could be used to compromise a system.

V-225387

low

Uncontrolled system updates can introduce issues to a system. Obtaining update components from an outside source may also potentially allow sensitive information outside of the enterprise. Application updates must be obtained from an internal source.

V-225388

medium

Uncontrolled installation of applications can introduce various issues, including system instability, and provide access to sensitive information. Installation of applications must be controlled by the enterprise. Turning off access to the Windows Store will limit access to publicly available applications.

V-225389

medium

Installation options for applications are typically controlled by administrators. This setting prevents users from changing installation options that may bypass security features.

V-225390

high

Standard user accounts must not be granted elevated privileges. Enabling Windows Installer to elevate privileges when installing applications can allow malicious persons and applications to gain full control of a system.

V-225391

medium

Users must be aware of attempted program installations. This setting ensures users are notified if a web-based program attempts to install software.

V-225392

low

Uncontrolled system updates can introduce issues to a system. This setting will prevent users from applying vendor-signed updates (though they may be from a trusted source).

V-225393

medium

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this capability will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.
This check verifies that Windows Media DRM will be prevented from accessing the Internet.

V-225394

low

Some features may communicate with the vendor, sending system information or downloading data or components for the feature. Turning off this capability will prevent potentially sensitive information from being sent outside the enterprise and uncontrolled updates to the system.
This setting prevents users from being presented with Privacy and Installation options on first use of Windows Media Player, which could enable some communication with the vendor.

V-225395

medium

Uncontrolled system updates can introduce issues to a system. The automatic check for updates performed by Windows Media Player must be disabled to ensure a constant platform and to prevent the introduction of unknown\untested software on the system.

V-225396

high

Basic authentication uses plain text passwords that could be used to compromise a system.

V-225397

medium

Unencrypted remote access to a system can allow sensitive information to be compromised. Windows remote management connections must be encrypted to prevent this.

V-225398

medium

Digest authentication is not as strong as other options and may be subject to man-in-the-middle attacks.

V-225399

high

Basic authentication uses plain text passwords that could be used to compromise a system.

V-225400

medium

Unencrypted remote access to a system can allow sensitive information to be compromised. Windows remote management connections must be encrypted to prevent this.

V-225401

medium

Storage of administrative credentials could allow unauthorized access. Disallowing the storage of RunAs credentials for Windows Remote Management will prevent them from being used with plug-ins.

V-225402

medium

Allowing unsecure RPC communication exposes the system to man-in-the-middle attacks and data disclosure attacks. A man-in-the-middle attack occurs when an intruder captures packets between a client and server and modifies them before allowing the packets to be exchanged. Usually the attacker will modify the information in the packets in an attempt to cause either the client or server to reveal sensitive information.

V-225404

medium

Preventing the redirection of Remote Desktop session data to a client computer's COM ports helps reduce possible exposure of sensitive data.

V-225405

medium

Preventing the redirection of Remote Desktop session data to a client computer's LPT ports helps reduce possible exposure of sensitive data.

V-225406

medium

Enabling the redirection of smart card devices allows their use within Remote Desktop sessions.

V-225407

medium

Preventing the redirection of Plug and Play devices in Remote Desktop sessions helps reduce possible exposure of sensitive data.

V-225408

medium

Allowing the redirection of only the default client printer to a Remote Desktop session helps reduce possible exposure of sensitive data.

V-225409

medium

Slide shows that are displayed on the lock screen could display sensitive information to unauthorized personnel. Turning off this feature will limit access to the information to a logged on user.

V-225410

medium

Maintaining an audit trail of system activity logs can help identify configuration errors, troubleshoot service disruptions, and analyze compromises that have occurred, as well as detect attacks. Audit logs are necessary to provide a trail of evidence in case the system or network is compromised. Collecting this data is essential for analyzing the security of information assets and detecting signs of suspicious and unexpected behavior.

Enabling "Include command line data for process creation events" will record the command line information with the process creation events in the log. This can provide additional detail when malware has run on a system.

Satisfies: SRG-OS-000042-GPOS-00021

V-225411

medium

Enabling interaction with the network selection UI allows users to change connections to available networks without signing into Windows.

V-225412

low

Control of credentials and the system must be maintained within the enterprise. Enabling this setting allows enterprise credentials to be used with modern style apps that support this, instead of Microsoft accounts.

V-225413

medium

A known vulnerability in Windows could allow the execution of malicious code by either opening a compromised document or viewing it in the Windows Preview pane.

Organizations must disable the Windows Preview pane and Windows Detail pane.

V-225414

medium

Windows 2012 R2 can be configured to automatically sign the user back in after a Windows Update restart. Some protections are in place to help ensure this is done in a secure fashion; however, disabling this will prevent the caching of credentials for this purpose and also ensure the user is aware of the restart.

V-225415

medium

When the WDigest Authentication protocol is enabled, plain text passwords are stored in the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) exposing them to theft. This setting will prevent WDigest from storing credentials in memory.

V-225416

medium

A firewall provides a line of defense against attack, allowing or blocking inbound and outbound connections based on a set of rules.

V-225417

high

Systems at unsupported service packs or releases will not receive security updates for new vulnerabilities, which leave them subject to exploitation. Systems must be maintained at a service pack level supported by the vendor with new security updates.

V-225418

high

An account that does not have Administrator duties must not have Administrator rights. Such rights would allow the account to bypass or modify required security restrictions on that machine and make it vulnerable to attack.

System administrators must log on to systems only using accounts with the minimum level of authority necessary.

For domain-joined member servers, the Domain Admins group must be replaced by a domain member server administrator group (see V-36433 in the Active Directory Domain STIG). Restricting highly privileged accounts from the local Administrators group helps mitigate the risk of privilege escalation resulting from credential theft attacks.

Standard user accounts must not be members of the built-in Administrators group.

V-225419

high

The ability to set access permissions and auditing is critical to maintaining the security and proper access controls of a system. To support this, local volumes must be formatted using a file system that supports NTFS attributes.

V-225420

medium

Changing the system's file and directory permissions allows the possibility of unauthorized and anonymous modification to the operating system and installed applications.

The default permissions are adequate when the Security Option "Network access: Let everyone permissions apply to anonymous users" is set to "Disabled" (V-3377).

V-225421

medium

V-225422

medium

V-225423

medium

Allowing a system to boot into multiple operating systems (dual-booting) may allow security to be circumvented on a secure system.

V-225424

low

Windows shares are a means by which files, folders, printers, and other resources can be published for network users to access. Improper configuration can permit access to devices and data beyond a user's need.

V-225425

low

Outdated or unused accounts provide penetration points that may go undetected. Inactive accounts must be deleted if no longer necessary or, if still required, disabled until needed.

V-225426

high

The lack of password protection enables anyone to gain access to the information system, which opens a backdoor opportunity for intruders to compromise the system as well as other resources. Accounts on a system must require passwords.

V-225427

medium

Passwords that do not expire or are reused increase the exposure of a password with greater probability of being discovered or cracked.

V-225428

medium

Monitoring system files for changes against a baseline on a regular basis may help detect the possible introduction of malicious code on a system.

V-225429

medium

Shares on a system provide network access. To prevent exposing sensitive information, where shares are necessary, permissions must be reconfigured to give the minimum access to those accounts that require it.

V-225431

medium

Use of software certificates and their accompanying installation files for end users to access resources is less secure than the use of hardware-based certificates.

V-225432

medium

Unnecessary services increase the attack surface of a system. Some services may be run under the local System account, which generally has more permissions than required by the service. Compromising a service could allow an intruder to obtain system permissions and open the system to a variety of attacks.

V-225433

medium

A properly configured host-based Intrusion Detection System provides another level of defense against unauthorized access to critical servers. With proper configuration and logging enabled, such a system can stop and/or alert for many attempts to gain unauthorized access to resources.

V-225434

medium

Without the use of automated mechanisms to scan for security flaws on a continuous and/or periodic basis, the operating system or other system components may remain vulnerable to the exploits presented by undetected software flaws. The operating system may have an integrated solution incorporating continuous scanning using ESS and periodic scanning using other tools.

V-225435

medium

The organization (including any contractor to the organization) must promptly install security-relevant software updates (e.g., patches, service packs, hot fixes). Flaws discovered during security assessments, continuous monitoring, incident response activities, or information system error handling must also be addressed.

V-225436

medium

Failure to verify a certificate's revocation status can result in the system accepting a revoked, and therefore unauthorized, certificate. This could result in the installation of unauthorized software or a connection for rogue networks, depending on the use for which the certificate is intended. Querying for certificate revocation mitigates the risk that the system will accept an unauthorized certificate.

V-225437

medium

The FTP service allows remote users to access shared files and directories. Allowing anonymous FTP connections makes user auditing difficult.

Using accounts that have administrator privileges to log on to FTP risks that the userid and password will be captured on the network and give administrator access to an unauthorized user.

V-225438

high

The FTP service allows remote users to access shared files and directories. Access outside of the specific directories of shared data could provide access to system resources and compromise the system.

V-225439

medium

If temporary user accounts remain active when no longer needed or for an excessive period, these accounts may be used to gain unauthorized access. To mitigate this risk, automated termination of all temporary accounts must be set upon account creation.

Temporary accounts are established as part of normal account activation procedures when there is a need for short-term accounts without the demand for immediacy in account activation.

If temporary accounts are used, the operating system must be configured to automatically terminate these types of accounts after a DoD-defined time period of 72 hours.

To address access requirements, many operating systems may be integrated with enterprise-level authentication/access mechanisms that meet or exceed access control policy requirements.

V-225440

medium

Emergency administrator accounts are privileged accounts which are established in response to crisis situations where the need for rapid account activation is required. Therefore, emergency account activation may bypass normal account authorization processes. If these accounts are automatically disabled, system maintenance during emergencies may not be possible, thus adversely affecting system availability.

Emergency administrator accounts are different from infrequently used accounts (i.e., local logon accounts used by system administrators when network or normal logon/access is not available). Infrequently used accounts are not subject to automatic termination dates. Emergency accounts are accounts created in response to crisis situations, usually for use by maintenance personnel. The automatic expiration or disabling time period may be extended as needed until the crisis is resolved; however, it must not be extended indefinitely. A permanent account should be established for privileged users who need long-term maintenance accounts.

To address access requirements, many operating systems can be integrated with enterprise-level authentication/access mechanisms that meet or exceed access control policy requirements.

V-225441

medium

To ensure secure DoD websites and DoD-signed code are properly validated, the system must trust the DoD Root Certificate Authorities (CAs). The DoD root certificates will ensure that the trust chain is established for server certificates issued from the DoD CAs.

V-225442

medium

To ensure users do not experience denial of service when performing certificate-based authentication to DoD websites due to the system chaining to a root other than DoD Root CAs, the DoD Interoperability Root CA cross-certificates must be installed in the Untrusted Certificate Store. This requirement only applies to unclassified systems.

V-225443

medium

To ensure users do not experience denial of service when performing certificate-based authentication to DoD websites due to the system chaining to a root other than DoD Root CAs, the US DoD CCEB Interoperability Root CA cross-certificates must be installed in the Untrusted Certificate Store. This requirement only applies to unclassified systems.

V-225444

high

Permissions on the Winlogon registry key must only allow privileged accounts to change registry values. If standard users have these permissions, there is a potential for programs to run with elevated privileges when a privileged user logs on to the system.

V-225445

high

Permissions on the Active Setup\Installed Components registry key must only allow privileged accounts to add or change registry values. If standard user accounts have these permissions, there is a potential for programs to run with elevated privileges when a privileged user logs on to the system.

V-225446

medium

A compromised local administrator account can provide means for an attacker to move laterally between domain systems.

With User Account Control enabled, filtering the privileged token for local administrator accounts will prevent the elevated privileges of these accounts from being used over the network.

V-225447

high

The registry is integral to the function, security, and stability of the Windows system. Some processes may require anonymous access to the registry. This must be limited to properly protect the system.

V-225448

medium

A system faces an increased vulnerability threat if the built-in guest account is not disabled. This account is a known account that exists on all Windows systems and cannot be deleted. This account is initialized during the installation of the operating system with no password assigned.

V-225449

high

An account without a password can allow unauthorized access to a system as only the username would be required. Password policies should prevent accounts with blank passwords from existing on a system. However, if a local account with a blank password did exist, enabling this setting will prevent network access, limiting the account to local console logon only.

V-225450

medium

The built-in administrator account is a well-known account subject to attack. Renaming this account to an unidentified name improves the protection of this account and the system.

V-225451

medium

The built-in guest account is a well-known user account on all Windows systems and, as initially installed, does not require a password. This can allow access to system resources by unauthorized users. Renaming this account to an unidentified name improves the protection of this account and the system.

V-225452

medium

Maintaining an audit trail of system activity logs can help identify configuration errors, troubleshoot service disruptions, and analyze compromises that have occurred, as well as detect attacks. Audit logs are necessary to provide a trail of evidence in case the system or network is compromised. Collecting this data is essential for analyzing the security of information assets and detecting signs of suspicious and unexpected behavior.
This setting prevents the system from setting up a default system access control list for certain system objects, which could create a very large number of security events, filling the security log in Windows and making it difficult to identify actual issues.

V-225453

medium

Maintaining an audit trail of system activity logs can help identify configuration errors, troubleshoot service disruptions, and analyze compromises that have occurred, as well as detect attacks. Audit logs are necessary to provide a trail of evidence in case the system or network is compromised. Collecting this data is essential for analyzing the security of information assets and detecting signs of suspicious and unexpected behavior.
This setting prevents the system from generating audit events for every file backed up or restored, which could fill the security log in Windows, making it difficult to identify actual issues.

V-225454

medium

V-225455

medium

Removable hard drives, if they are not properly configured, can be formatted and ejected by users who are not members of the Administrators Group. Formatting and ejecting removable NTFS media must only be done by administrators.

V-225456

medium

Requests sent on the secure channel are authenticated, and sensitive information (such as passwords) is encrypted, but not all information is encrypted. If this policy is enabled, outgoing secure channel traffic will be encrypted and signed.

V-225457

medium

V-225458

medium

Requests sent on the secure channel are authenticated, and sensitive information (such as passwords) is encrypted, but the channel is not integrity checked. If this policy is enabled, outgoing secure channel traffic will be signed.

V-225459

low

Computer account passwords are changed automatically on a regular basis. Disabling automatic password changes can make the system more vulnerable to malicious access. Frequent password changes can be a significant safeguard for your system. A new password for the computer account will be generated every 30 days.

V-225460

low

Computer account passwords are changed automatically on a regular basis. This setting controls the maximum password age that a machine account may have. This setting must be set to no more than 30 days, ensuring the machine changes its password monthly.

V-225461

medium

A computer connecting to a domain controller will establish a secure channel. Requiring strong session keys enforces 128-bit encryption between systems.

V-225462

low

Displaying the username of the last logged on user provides half of the userid/password equation that an unauthorized person would need to gain access. The username of the last user to log on to a system must not be displayed.

V-225463

medium

Disabling the Ctrl+Alt+Del security attention sequence can compromise system security. Because only Windows responds to the Ctrl+Alt+Del security sequence, a user can be assured that any passwords entered following that sequence are sent only to Windows. If the sequence requirement is eliminated, malicious programs can request and receive a user's Windows password. Disabling this sequence also suppresses a custom logon banner.

V-225464

medium

Unattended systems are susceptible to unauthorized use and should be locked when unattended. The screen saver should be set at a maximum of 15 minutes and be password protected. This protects critical and sensitive data from exposure to unauthorized personnel with physical access to the computer.

V-225465

medium

Failure to display the logon banner prior to a logon attempt will negate legal proceedings resulting from unauthorized access to system resources.

V-225466

low

Failure to display the logon banner prior to a logon attempt will negate legal proceedings resulting from unauthorized access to system resources.

V-225467

low

The default Windows configuration caches the last logon credentials for users who log on interactively to a system. This feature is provided for system availability reasons, such as the user's machine being disconnected from the network or domain controllers being unavailable. Even though the credential cache is well-protected, if a system is attacked, an unauthorized individual may isolate the password to a domain user account using a password-cracking program and gain access to the domain.

V-225468

low

Creating strong passwords that can be remembered by users requires some thought. By giving the user advance warning, the user has time to construct a sufficiently strong password. This setting configures the system to display a warning to users telling them how many days are left before their password expires.

V-225469

medium

Unattended systems are susceptible to unauthorized use and must be locked. Configuring a system to lock when a smart card is removed will ensure the system is inaccessible when unattended.

V-225470

medium

The server message block (SMB) protocol provides the basis for many network operations. Digitally signed SMB packets aid in preventing man-in-the-middle attacks. If this policy is enabled, the SMB client will only communicate with an SMB server that performs SMB packet signing.

V-225471

medium

The server message block (SMB) protocol provides the basis for many network operations. If this policy is enabled, the SMB client will request packet signing when communicating with an SMB server that is enabled or required to perform SMB packet signing.

V-225472

medium

Some non-Microsoft SMB servers only support unencrypted (plain text) password authentication. Sending plain text passwords across the network, when authenticating to an SMB server, reduces the overall security of the environment. Check with the vendor of the SMB server to see if there is a way to support encrypted password authentication.

V-225473

low

Open sessions can increase the avenues of attack on a system. This setting is used to control when a computer disconnects an inactive SMB session. If client activity resumes, the session is automatically reestablished. This protects critical and sensitive network data from exposure to unauthorized personnel with physical access to the computer.

V-225474

medium

The server message block (SMB) protocol provides the basis for many network operations. Digitally signed SMB packets aid in preventing man-in-the-middle attacks. If this policy is enabled, the SMB server will only communicate with an SMB client that performs SMB packet signing.

V-225475

medium

The server message block (SMB) protocol provides the basis for many network operations. Digitally signed SMB packets aid in preventing man-in-the-middle attacks. If this policy is enabled, the SMB server will negotiate SMB packet signing as requested by the client.

V-225476

low

Users must not be permitted to remain logged on to the network after they have exceeded their permitted logon hours. In many cases, this indicates that a user forgot to log off before leaving for the day. However, it may also indicate that a user is attempting unauthorized access at a time when the system may be less closely monitored. Forcibly disconnecting users when logon hours expire protects critical and sensitive network data from exposure to unauthorized personnel with physical access to the computer.

V-225477

medium

If a service principle name (SPN) is provided by the client, it is validated against the server's list of SPNs. Implementation may disrupt file and print sharing capabilities.

V-225478

medium

Allowing a system to automatically log on when the machine is booted could give access to any unauthorized individual who restarts the computer. Automatic logon with administrator privileges would give full access to an unauthorized individual.

V-225479

low

Configuring the system to disable IPv6 source routing protects against spoofing.

V-225480

low

Configuring the system to disable IP source routing protects against spoofing.

V-225481

low

Allowing ICMP redirect of routes can lead to traffic not being routed properly. When disabled, this forces ICMP to be routed via shortest path first.

V-225482

low

This setting controls how often TCP sends a keep-alive packet in attempting to verify that an idle connection is still intact. A higher value could allow an attacker to cause a denial of service with numerous connections.

V-225483

low

IPSec exemption filters allow specific traffic that may be needed by the system for such things as Kerberos authentication. This setting configures Windows for specific IPSec exemptions.

V-225484

low

Configuring the system to ignore name release requests, except from WINS servers, prevents a denial of service (DoS) attack. The DoS consists of sending a NetBIOS name release request to the server for each entry in the server's cache, causing a response delay in the normal operation of the servers WINS resolution capability.

V-225485

low

The Internet Router Discovery Protocol (IRDP) is used to detect and configure default gateway addresses on the computer. If a router is impersonated on a network, traffic could be routed through the compromised system.

V-225486

medium

The default search behavior, when an application calls a function in a Dynamic Link Library (DLL), is to search the current directory, followed by the directories contained in the system's path environment variable. An unauthorized DLL, inserted into an application's working directory, could allow malicious code to be run on the system. Setting this policy value forces the system to search the %Systemroot% for the DLL before searching the current directory or the rest of the path.

V-225487

low

Allowing more than several seconds makes the computer vulnerable to a potential attack from someone walking up to the console to attempt to log on to the system before the lock takes effect.

V-225488

low

Configuring Windows to limit the number of times that IPv6 TCP retransmits unacknowledged data segments before aborting the attempt helps prevent resources from becoming exhausted.

V-225489

low

In a SYN flood attack, the attacker sends a continuous stream of SYN packets to a server, and the server leaves the half-open connections open until it is overwhelmed and is no longer able to respond to legitimate requests.

V-225490

low

When the audit log reaches a given percent full, an audit event is written to the security log. It is recorded as a successful audit event under the category of System. This option may be especially useful if the audit logs are set to be cleared manually.

V-225491

high

Allowing anonymous SID/Name translation can provide sensitive information for accessing a system. Only authorized users must be able to perform such translations.

V-225492

high

Anonymous enumeration of SAM accounts allows anonymous log on users (null session connections) to list all accounts names, thus providing a list of potential points to attack the system.

V-225493

high

Allowing anonymous logon users (null session connections) to list all account names and enumerate all shared resources can provide a map of potential points to attack the system.

V-225494

medium

Access by anonymous users must be restricted. If this setting is enabled, then anonymous users have the same rights and permissions as the built-in Everyone group. Anonymous users must not have these permissions or rights.

V-225495

high

Named pipes that can be accessed anonymously provide the potential for gaining unauthorized system access. Pipes are internal system communications processes. They are identified internally by ID numbers that vary between systems. To make access to these processes easier, these pipes are given names that do not vary between systems. This setting controls which of these pipes anonymous users may access.

V-225496

high

The registry is integral to the function, security, and stability of the Windows system. Some processes may require remote access to the registry. This setting controls which registry paths are accessible from a remote computer. These registry paths must be limited, as they could give unauthorized individuals access to the registry.

V-225497

high

The registry is integral to the function, security, and stability of the Windows system. Some processes may require remote access to the registry. This setting controls which registry paths and sub-paths are accessible from a remote computer. These registry paths must be limited, as they could give unauthorized individuals access to the registry.

V-225498

high

Allowing anonymous access to named pipes or shares provides the potential for unauthorized system access. This setting restricts access to those defined in "Network access: Named Pipes that can be accessed anonymously" and "Network access: Shares that can be accessed anonymously", both of which must be blank under other requirements.

V-225499

high

Anonymous access to network shares provides the potential for gaining unauthorized system access by network users. This could lead to the exposure or corruption of sensitive data.

V-225500

medium

Windows includes two network-sharing security models - Classic and Guest only. With the Classic model, local accounts must be password protected; otherwise, anyone can use guest user accounts to access shared system resources.

V-225501

medium

Services using Local System that use Negotiate when reverting to NTLM authentication may gain unauthorized access if allowed to authenticate anonymously vs. using the computer identity.

V-225502

medium

NTLM sessions that are allowed to fall back to Null (unauthenticated) sessions may gain unauthorized access.

V-225503

medium

PKU2U is a peer-to-peer authentication protocol. This setting prevents online identities from authenticating to domain-joined systems. Authentication will be centrally managed with Windows user accounts.

V-225504

medium

Certain encryption types are no longer considered secure. The DES and RC4 encryption suites must not be used for Kerberos encryption.

Note: Removing the previously allowed RC4_HMAC_MD5 encryption suite may have operational impacts and must be thoroughly tested for the environment before changing. This includes but is not limited to parent\child trusts where RC4 is still enabled; selecting "The other domain supports Kerberos AES Encryption" may be required on the domain trusts to allow client communication across the trust relationship.

V-225505

high

The LAN Manager hash uses a weak encryption algorithm and there are several tools available that use this hash to retrieve account passwords. This setting controls whether or not a LAN Manager hash of the password is stored in the SAM the next time the password is changed.

V-225506

medium

Limiting logon hours can help protect data by only allowing access during specified times. This setting controls whether or not users are forced to log off when their allowed logon hours expire. If logon hours are set for users, this must be enforced.

V-225507

high

The Kerberos v5 authentication protocol is the default for authentication of users who are logging on to domain accounts. NTLM, which is less secure, is retained in later Windows versions for compatibility with clients and servers that are running earlier versions of Windows or applications that still use it. It is also used to authenticate logons to stand-alone computers that are running later versions.

V-225508

medium

This setting controls the signing requirements for LDAP clients. This setting must be set to Negotiate signing or Require signing, depending on the environment and type of LDAP server in use.

V-225509

medium

Microsoft has implemented a variety of security support providers for use with RPC sessions. All of the options must be enabled to ensure the maximum security level.

V-225510

medium

Microsoft has implemented a variety of security support providers for use with RPC sessions. All of the options must be enabled to ensure the maximum security level.

V-225511

low

Displaying the shutdown button may allow individuals to shut down a system anonymously. Only authenticated users should be allowed to shut down the system. Preventing display of this button in the logon dialog box ensures that individuals who shut down the system are authorized and tracked in the system's Security event log.

V-225512

medium

This setting ensures that the system uses algorithms that are FIPS-compliant for encryption, hashing, and signing. FIPS-compliant algorithms meet specific standards established by the U.S. Government and must be the algorithms used for all OS encryption functions.

V-225513

medium

This setting controls the behavior of non-Windows subsystems when dealing with the case of arguments or commands. Case sensitivity could lead to the access of files or commands that must be restricted. To prevent this from happening, case insensitivity restrictions must be required.

V-225514

low

Windows systems maintain a global list of shared system resources such as DOS device names, mutexes, and semaphores. Each type of object is created with a default DACL that specifies who can access the objects with what permissions. If this policy is enabled, the default DACL is stronger, allowing nonadministrative users to read shared objects, but not modify shared objects that they did not create.

V-225515

medium

User Account Control (UAC) is a security mechanism for limiting the elevation of privileges, including administrative accounts, unless authorized. This setting configures the built-in Administrator account so that it runs in Admin Approval Mode.

Satisfies: SRG-OS-000373-GPOS-00158

V-225516

medium

User Account Control (UAC) is a security mechanism for limiting the elevation of privileges, including administrative accounts, unless authorized. This setting configures the elevation requirements for logged on administrators to complete a task that requires raised privileges.

V-225517

medium

User Account Control (UAC) is a security mechanism for limiting the elevation of privileges, including administrative accounts, unless authorized. This setting controls the behavior of elevation when requested by a standard user account.

Satisfies: SRG-OS-000373-GPOS-00158

V-225518

medium

User Account Control (UAC) is a security mechanism for limiting the elevation of privileges, including administrative accounts, unless authorized. This setting requires Windows to respond to application installation requests by prompting for credentials.

V-225519

medium

User Account Control (UAC) is a security mechanism for limiting the elevation of privileges, including administrative accounts, unless authorized. This setting configures whether Windows elevates all applications, or only signed ones.

V-225520

medium

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.

V-225521

medium

User Account Control (UAC) is a security mechanism for limiting the elevation of privileges, including administrative accounts, unless authorized. This setting enables UAC.

Satisfies: SRG-OS-000373-GPOS-00158

V-225522

medium

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.

V-225523

medium

User Account Control (UAC) is a security mechanism for limiting the elevation of privileges, including administrative accounts, unless authorized. This setting configures non-UAC-compliant applications to run in virtualized file and registry entries in per-user locations, allowing them to run.

V-225524

medium

User Account Control (UAC) is a security mechanism for limiting the elevation of privileges, including administrative accounts, unless authorized. This setting prevents User Interface Accessibility programs from disabling the secure desktop for elevation prompts.

V-225525

low

The POSIX subsystem is an Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) standard that defines a set of operating system services. The POSIX Subsystem is required if the server supports applications that use that subsystem. The subsystem introduces a security risk relating to processes that can potentially persist across logins. That is, if a user starts a process and then logs out, there is a potential that the next user who logs in to the system could access the previous users process. This is dangerous because the process started by the first user may retain that users system privileges, and anything the second user does with that process will be performed with the privileges of the first user.

V-225526

low

Allowing users to install drivers can introduce malware or cause the instability of a system. Print driver installation should be restricted to administrators.

V-225527

medium

If the private key is discovered, an attacker can use the key to authenticate as an authorized user and gain access to the network infrastructure.

The cornerstone of the PKI is the private key used to encrypt or digitally sign information.

If the private key is stolen, this will lead to the compromise of the authentication and non-repudiation gained through PKI because the attacker can use the private key to digitally sign documents and pretend to be the authorized user.

Both the holders of a digital certificate and the issuing authority must protect the computers, storage devices, or whatever they use to keep the private keys.

V-225528

medium