18.9.5.6 (NG) Ensure 'Turn On Virtualization Based Security: Secure Launch Configuration' is set to 'Enabled'

Information

Secure Launch protects the Virtualization Based Security environment from exploited vulnerabilities in device firmware.

The recommended state for this setting is: Enabled

Note: Credential Guard and Device Guard are not currently supported when using Azure IaaS VMs.

Secure Launch changes the way Windows boots to use Intel Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) and Runtime BIOS Resilience features to prevent firmware exploits from being able to impact the security of the Windows Virtualization Based Security environment.

Solution

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

Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\System\Device Guard\Turn On Virtualization Based Security: Secure Launch Configuration

Note: This Group Policy path is provided by the Group Policy template DeviceGuard.admx/adml that is included with the Microsoft Windows 10 Release 1809 & Server 2019 Administrative Templates (or newer).

Impact:

Warning : All drivers on the system must be compatible with this feature or the system may crash. Ensure that this policy setting is only deployed to computers which are known to be compatible.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/16514

Item Details

Category: SYSTEM AND INFORMATION INTEGRITY

References: 800-53|SI-16, CSCv7|8.3

Plugin: Windows

Control ID: 6ef04b4d07856b4a40ea47831d397f12ca68baef2ee4175a05356740ec2e8632