18.10.89.2.4 (L1) Ensure 'Disallow WinRM from storing RunAs credentials' is set to 'Enabled'

Information

This policy setting allows you to manage whether the Windows Remote Management (WinRM) service will allow RunAs credentials to be stored for any plug-ins.

The recommended state for this setting is: Enabled

Note: If you enable and then disable this policy setting, any values that were previously configured for RunAsPassword will need to be reset.

Although the ability to store RunAs credentials is a convenient feature it increases the risk of account compromise slightly. For example, if you forget to lock your desktop before leaving it unattended for a few minutes another person could access not only the desktop of your computer but also any hosts you manage via WinRM with cached RunAs credentials.

Solution

To establish the recommended configuration via GP, set the following UI path to Enabled :

Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Remote Management (WinRM)\WinRM Service\Disallow WinRM from storing RunAs credentials

Note: This Group Policy path may not exist by default. It is provided by the Group Policy template WindowsRemoteManagement.admx/adml that is included with the Microsoft Windows 8.0 & Server 2012 (non-R2) Administrative Templates (or newer).

Impact:

The WinRM service will not allow the RunAsUser or RunAsPassword configuration values to be set for any plug-ins. If a plug-in has already set the RunAsUser and RunAsPassword configuration values, the RunAsPassword configuration value will be erased from the credential store on the computer.

If this setting is later Disabled again, any values that were previously configured for RunAsPassword will need to be reset.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/15273

Item Details

Category: SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATIONS PROTECTION

References: 800-53|SC-7(21), CSCv7|14.3

Plugin: Windows

Control ID: 965d22c7c6d22de6c38691533949c5dfa25030d77a7de893ea7d5cb86685daf3