Information
This policy setting allows you to control the redirection of supported Plug and Play devices, such as Windows Portable Devices, to the remote computer in a Remote Desktop Services session.
The recommended state for this setting is: Enabled.
Rationale:
In a more security-sensitive environment, it is desirable to reduce the possible attack surface. The need for Plug and Play device redirection within a Remote Desktop session is very rare, so makes sense to reduce the number of unexpected avenues for data exfiltration and/or malicious code transfer.
Solution
To establish the recommended configuration via GP, set the following UI path to Enabled:
Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Device and Resource Redirection\Do not allow supported Plug and Play device redirection
Note: This Group Policy path is provided by the Group Policy template TerminalServer.admx/adml that is included with all versions of the Microsoft Windows Administrative Templates.
Impact:
Users in a Remote Desktop Services session will not be able to redirect their supported (local client) Plug and Play devices to the remote computer.
Default Value:
Disabled. (Remote Desktop Services allows redirection of supported Plug and Play devices.)