The SharePoint Setup User domain account must be configured with the minimum privileges for the local server.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-30366	SHPT-00-000195	SV-40025r1_rule	ECLP-1	Medium

Description
Separation of duties is a prevalent Information Technology control implemented at different layers of the information system including the operating system and in applications. It serves to eliminate or reduce the possibility that a single user may carry out a prohibited action. Separation of duties requires the person accountable for approving an action not be the same person tasked with implementing the action. This requirement is intended to limit exposure due to users (or entities acting on behalf of users) being used to operate from within a privileged account or role. Limiting the access and permissions of privileged accounts to the minimum required, reduces exposure if the account is compromised and provides forensic history of activity when operating from these accounts. See TechNet Article cc678863 for information regarding required permission. The setup user administrator account is used during initial creation of the farm, to update the farm servers, and to configure certain farm configuration option. The setup user administrator account must have membership in the local administrators Windows group on each server in the farm (excluding SQL Server and the Exchange server.)

Description

Separation of duties is a prevalent Information Technology control implemented at different layers of the information system including the operating system and in applications. It serves to eliminate or reduce the possibility that a single user may carry out a prohibited action. Separation of duties requires the person accountable for approving an action not be the same person tasked with implementing the action. This requirement is intended to limit exposure due to users (or entities acting on behalf of users) being used to operate from within a privileged account or role. Limiting the access and permissions of privileged accounts to the minimum required, reduces exposure if the account is compromised and provides forensic history of activity when operating from these accounts. See TechNet Article cc678863 for information regarding required permission. The setup user administrator account is used during initial creation of the farm, to update the farm servers, and to configure certain farm configuration option. The setup user administrator account must have membership in the local administrators Windows group on each server in the farm (excluding SQL Server and the Exchange server.)

STIG	Date
SharePoint 2010 Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG)	2011-12-20

Details

Check Text ( C-39041r1_chk )
1. On the server(s) where the SharePoint software is installed, navigate to Server Manager -> Local Users and Groups. 2. Select the “Member of” tab and verify this account is a member of the Administrators group and no other groups. 3. Select the other tabs in this area to verify no other services or permissions are configured for this account. 4. Mark as a finding if the Setup User account is a member of any other group than Administrators on the local server where SharePoint is installed.

Check Text ( C-39041r1_chk )

1. On the server(s) where the SharePoint software is installed, navigate to Server Manager -> Local Users and Groups.
2. Select the “Member of” tab and verify this account is a member of the Administrators group and no other groups.
3. Select the other tabs in this area to verify no other services or permissions are configured for this account.
4. Mark as a finding if the Setup User account is a member of any other group than Administrators on the local server where SharePoint is installed.

Fix Text (F-34141r1_fix)
1. On the server (s) where the SharePoint software is installed, navigate to Server Manager -> Local Users and Groups. 2. Select the “Member of” tab. Configure the SharePoint Setup User as a member of Administrators. Remove all other group memberships from this account. 3. Select the other tabs in this area and remove other services or permissions configured for this account.