User accounts with domain level administrative privileges must be members of the Protected Users group in domains with a domain functional level of Windows 2012 R2 or higher.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-243477	AD.0017	SV-243477r723466_rule		Medium

Description
User accounts with domain level administrative privileges are highly prized in Pass-the-Hash/credential theft attacks. The Protected Users group provides extra protections to accounts such as preventing authentication using NTLM. These accounts include Enterprise and Domain Admins as well as other accounts that may have domain level privileges. The Protected Users group requires a domain functional level of at least Windows 2012 R2 to provide domain level protections.

Description

User accounts with domain level administrative privileges are highly prized in Pass-the-Hash/credential theft attacks. The Protected Users group provides extra protections to accounts such as preventing authentication using NTLM. These accounts include Enterprise and Domain Admins as well as other accounts that may have domain level privileges. The Protected Users group requires a domain functional level of at least Windows 2012 R2 to provide domain level protections.

STIG	Date
Active Directory Domain Security Technical Implementation Guide	2024-02-26

Details

Check Text ( C-46752r723464_chk )
If the domain functional level is not at least Windows 2012 R2, this is NA. Open "Windows PowerShell". Enter "Get-ADDomain \| FL DomainMode" to determine the domain functional level. Open "Active Directory Users and Computers" (available from various menus or run "dsa.msc"). Compare membership of the Protected Users group to membership of the following groups. By default, the groups are under the node referenced; however, it is possible to move those under "Users" to another location. Enterprise Admins (Users node) Domain Admins (Users node) Schema Admins (Users node) Administrators (Builtin node) Account Operators (Builtin node) Backup Operators (Builtin node) It is recommended that one account be excluded to ensure availability if there are issues with Kerberos. Excluding the account left out for availability, if all user accounts from the local domain that are members of the domain level groups above are not also members of the Protected Users group, this is a finding. (User accounts is referring to accounts for personnel, not service accounts.)

Check Text ( C-46752r723464_chk )

If the domain functional level is not at least Windows 2012 R2, this is NA.

Open "Windows PowerShell".

Enter "Get-ADDomain | FL DomainMode" to determine the domain functional level.

Open "Active Directory Users and Computers" (available from various menus or run "dsa.msc").

Compare membership of the Protected Users group to membership of the following groups. By default, the groups are under the node referenced; however, it is possible to move those under "Users" to another location.
Enterprise Admins (Users node)
Domain Admins (Users node)
Schema Admins (Users node)
Administrators (Builtin node)
Account Operators (Builtin node)
Backup Operators (Builtin node)

It is recommended that one account be excluded to ensure availability if there are issues with Kerberos.

Excluding the account left out for availability, if all user accounts from the local domain that are members of the domain level groups above are not also members of the Protected Users group, this is a finding. (User accounts is referring to accounts for personnel, not service accounts.)

Fix Text (F-46709r723465_fix)
Add user accounts from the local domain that are members of the domain level administrative groups listed below to the Protected Users group. One account may excluded to ensure availability if there are issues with Kerberos. Enterprise Admins (Users node) Domain Admins (Users node) Schema Admins (Users node) Administrators (Builtin node) Account Operators (Builtin node) Backup Operators (Builtin node) The use of the Protected Users group should be thoroughly tested before fully implementing.

Fix Text (F-46709r723465_fix)

Add user accounts from the local domain that are members of the domain level administrative groups listed below to the Protected Users group. One account may excluded to ensure availability if there are issues with Kerberos.

Enterprise Admins (Users node)
Domain Admins (Users node)
Schema Admins (Users node)
Administrators (Builtin node)
Account Operators (Builtin node)
Backup Operators (Builtin node)

The use of the Protected Users group should be thoroughly tested before fully implementing.