The Deny log on through Terminal Services user right on member servers must be configured to prevent access from highly privileged domain accounts and local administrator accounts on domain systems and unauthenticated access on all systems.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-26486	WINUR-000021-MS	SV-47142r3_rule		Medium

Description
Inappropriate granting of user rights can provide system, administrative, and other high level capabilities. The "Deny log on through Terminal Services" right defines the accounts that are prevented from logging on using Terminal Services. In an Active Directory Domain, denying logons to the Enterprise Admins and Domain Admins groups on lower trust systems helps mitigate the risk of privilege escalation from credential theft attacks which could lead to the compromise of an entire domain. Local administrator accounts on domain-joined systems must also be assigned this right to decrease the risk of lateral movement resulting from credential theft attacks. The Guests group must be assigned this right to prevent unauthenticated access.

Description

Inappropriate granting of user rights can provide system, administrative, and other high level capabilities. The "Deny log on through Terminal Services" right defines the accounts that are prevented from logging on using Terminal Services. In an Active Directory Domain, denying logons to the Enterprise Admins and Domain Admins groups on lower trust systems helps mitigate the risk of privilege escalation from credential theft attacks which could lead to the compromise of an entire domain. Local administrator accounts on domain-joined systems must also be assigned this right to decrease the risk of lateral movement resulting from credential theft attacks. The Guests group must be assigned this right to prevent unauthenticated access.

STIG	Date
Windows 2008 Member Server Security Technical Implementation Guide	2016-07-22

Details

Check Text ( None )
None

Fix Text (F-62413r2_fix)
Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> User Rights Assignment -> "Deny log on through Terminal Services" to include the following. Domain Systems Only: Enterprise Admins group Domain Admins group All Local Administrator Accounts using the "DenyNetworkAccess" or "DeniedNetworkAccess" group (see V-45589). Do not use the built-in Administrators group. This group must contain the appropriate accounts/groups responsible for administering the system. All Systems: Guests group Documentation and scripts supporting the use of this group to restrict local administrative accounts were changed at one point. The original name, "DeniedNetworkAccess", was changed to "DenyNetworkAccess". Automated benchmarks will look for either of these groups. Use of other methods will require manual validation.

Fix Text (F-62413r2_fix)

Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> User Rights Assignment -> "Deny log on through Terminal Services" to include the following.

Domain Systems Only:
Enterprise Admins group
Domain Admins group
*All Local Administrator Accounts using the "DenyNetworkAccess" or "DeniedNetworkAccess" group (see V-45589). Do not use the built-in Administrators group. This group must contain the appropriate accounts/groups responsible for administering the system.

All Systems:
Guests group

*Documentation and scripts supporting the use of this group to restrict local administrative accounts were changed at one point. The original name, "DeniedNetworkAccess", was changed to "DenyNetworkAccess". Automated benchmarks will look for either of these groups. Use of other methods will require manual validation.