2.3.17.1 Ensure 'User Account Control: Admin Approval Mode for the Built-in Administrator account' is set to 'Enabled'

Information

This policy setting controls the behavior of Admin Approval Mode for the built-in Administrator account.

The recommended state for this setting is: Enabled.

Rationale:

One of the risks that the User Account Control feature introduced with Windows Vista is trying to mitigate is that of malicious software running under elevated credentials without the user or administrator being aware of its activity. An attack vector for these programs was to discover the password of the account named 'Administrator' because that user account was created for all installations of Windows. To address this risk, in Windows Vista and newer, the built-in Administrator account is now disabled by default. In a default installation of a new computer, accounts with administrative control over the computer are initially set up in one of two ways:

If the computer is not joined to a domain, the first user account you create has the equivalent permissions as a local administrator.

If the computer is joined to a domain, no local administrator accounts are created. The Enterprise or Domain Administrator must log on to the computer and create one if a local administrator account is warranted.

Once Windows is installed, the built-in Administrator account may be manually enabled, but we strongly recommend that this account remain disabled.

Solution

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

Computer Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options\User Account Control: Admin Approval Mode for the Built-in Administrator account

Impact:

The built-in Administrator account uses Admin Approval Mode. Users that log on using the local Administrator account will be prompted for consent whenever a program requests an elevation in privilege, just like any other user would.

Default Value:

Disabled. (The built-in Administrator account runs all applications with full administrative privilege.)

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/2700