Windows Server 2016 must be configured to audit Account Management

Windows Server 2016 must be configured to audit Account Management - User Account Management failures.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-224886	WN16-AU-000150	SV-224886r569186_rule		Medium

Description
Maintaining an audit trail of system activity logs can help identify configuration errors, troubleshoot service disruptions, and analyze compromises that have occurred, as well as detect attacks. Audit logs are necessary to provide a trail of evidence in case the system or network is compromised. Collecting this data is essential for analyzing the security of information assets and detecting signs of suspicious and unexpected behavior. User Account Management records events such as creating, changing, deleting, renaming, disabling, or enabling user accounts. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000004-GPOS-00004, SRG-OS-000239-GPOS-00089, SRG-OS-000240-GPOS-00090, SRG-OS-000241-GPOS-00091, SRG-OS-000303-GPOS-00120, SRG-OS-000476-GPOS-00221

Description

Maintaining an audit trail of system activity logs can help identify configuration errors, troubleshoot service disruptions, and analyze compromises that have occurred, as well as detect attacks. Audit logs are necessary to provide a trail of evidence in case the system or network is compromised. Collecting this data is essential for analyzing the security of information assets and detecting signs of suspicious and unexpected behavior. User Account Management records events such as creating, changing, deleting, renaming, disabling, or enabling user accounts. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000004-GPOS-00004, SRG-OS-000239-GPOS-00089, SRG-OS-000240-GPOS-00090, SRG-OS-000241-GPOS-00091, SRG-OS-000303-GPOS-00120, SRG-OS-000476-GPOS-00221

STIG	Date
Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2021-09-29

Details

Check Text ( C-26577r465560_chk )
Security Option "Audit: Force audit policy subcategory settings (Windows Vista or later) to override audit policy category settings" must be set to "Enabled" (WN16-SO-000050) for the detailed auditing subcategories to be effective. Use the AuditPol tool to review the current Audit Policy configuration: Open an elevated "Command Prompt" (run as administrator). Enter "AuditPol /get /category:*". Compare the AuditPol settings with the following. If the system does not audit the following, this is a finding. Account Management >> User Account Management - Failure

Check Text ( C-26577r465560_chk )

Security Option "Audit: Force audit policy subcategory settings (Windows Vista or later) to override audit policy category settings" must be set to "Enabled" (WN16-SO-000050) for the detailed auditing subcategories to be effective.

Use the AuditPol tool to review the current Audit Policy configuration:

Open an elevated "Command Prompt" (run as administrator).

Enter "AuditPol /get /category:*".

Compare the AuditPol settings with the following.

If the system does not audit the following, this is a finding.

Account Management >> User Account Management - Failure

Fix Text (F-26565r465561_fix)
Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Windows Settings >> Security Settings >> Advanced Audit Policy Configuration >> System Audit Policies >> Account Management >> "Audit User Account Management" with "Failure" selected.