3.4.1 (L1) Ensure 'Apply UAC restrictions to local accounts on network logons' is set to 'Enabled'

Information

This setting controls whether local accounts can be used for remote administration via network logon (e.g., NET USE, connecting to C$, etc.). Local accounts are at high risk for credential theft when the same account and password is configured on multiple systems. Enabling this policy significantly reduces that risk.

Enabled: Applies UAC token-filtering to local accounts on network logons. Membership in powerful group such as Administrators is disabled and powerful privileges are removed from the resulting access token. This configures the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy registry value to 0 This is the default behavior for Windows.

Disabled: Allows local accounts to have full administrative rights when authenticating via network logon, by configuring the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy registry value to 1

For more information about local accounts and credential theft, review the '

Mitigating Pass-the-Hash (PtH) Attacks and Other Credential Theft Techniques

' documents.

For more information about LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 951016:

Description of User Account Control and remote restrictions in Windows Vista

.

The recommended state for this setting is: Enabled

Local accounts are at high risk for credential theft when the same account and password is configured on multiple systems. Ensuring this policy is Enabled significantly reduces that risk.

Solution

To establish the recommended configuration via configuration profiles, set the following Settings Catalog path to Enabled

Administrative Templates\MS Security Guide\Apply UAC restrictions to local accounts on network logons

Impact:

None - this is the default behavior.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/16853

Item Details

Category: ACCESS CONTROL

References: 800-53|AC-2(9), CSCv7|4.3

Plugin: Windows

Control ID: 9cf200422821dbd1e026c93b0bde5748951b07e39ad22347ed25f4fecb85ac0c