2.3.11.8 (L1) Ensure 'Network security: LDAP client encryption requirements' is set to 'Negotiate sealing' or higher

Information

This policy setting determines the level of data encryption that is requested on behalf of clients that issue LDAP BIND requests.

The recommended state for this setting is: Negotiate sealing Configuring this setting to Require sealing also conforms to the Benchmark.

Note: This policy setting does not have any impact on LDAP simple bind ( ldap_simple_bind ) or LDAP simple bind through SSL ( ldap_simple_bind_s ).

Unencrypted network traffic is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks in which an intruder captures the packets between the client and server, modifies them, and then forwards them to the server. For an LDAP server, this susceptibility means that an attacker could cause a server to make decisions that are based on false or altered data from the LDAP queries. To lower this risk in your network, you can implement strong physical security measures to protect the network infrastructure. Also, you can make all types of man-in-the-middle attacks extremely difficult if you require encryption on all network packets by means of IPsec authentication headers.

Solution

To establish the recommended configuration via GP, set the following UI path to Negotiate sealing or higher:

Computer Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options\Network security: LDAP client encryption requirements

Impact:

None - this is the default behavior.

However, if this setting is configured to

require

LDAP encryption on the server, then it must also be configured to

require

on the client. If it is not configured on the client, it will not be able to communicate with the server, which could cause features to fail, including user authentication, Group Policy, and logon scripts. This is because the caller will be told that the LDAP BIND command request failed.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/21318

Item Details

Category: IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

References: 800-53|IA-3(1)

Plugin: Windows

Control ID: cc29b56172571677eff491c256ce090f21b344ff9599b2145d1f6b82558f6513