Only administrators responsible for the member server or standalone system must have Administrator rights on the system.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-73221	WN16-MS-000010	SV-87873r1_rule		High

Description
An account that does not have Administrator duties must not have Administrator rights. Such rights would allow the account to bypass or modify required security restrictions on that machine and make it vulnerable to attack. System administrators must log on to systems using only accounts with the minimum level of authority necessary. For domain-joined member servers, the Domain Admins group must be replaced by a domain member server administrator group (see V-36433 in the Active Directory Domain STIG). Restricting highly privileged accounts from the local Administrators group helps mitigate the risk of privilege escalation resulting from credential theft attacks. Systems dedicated to the management of Active Directory (AD admin platforms, see V-36436 in the Active Directory Domain STIG) are exempt from this. AD admin platforms may use the Domain Admins group or a domain administrative group created specifically for AD admin platforms (see V-43711 in the Active Directory Domain STIG). Standard user accounts must not be members of the built-in Administrators group.

Description

An account that does not have Administrator duties must not have Administrator rights. Such rights would allow the account to bypass or modify required security restrictions on that machine and make it vulnerable to attack. System administrators must log on to systems using only accounts with the minimum level of authority necessary. For domain-joined member servers, the Domain Admins group must be replaced by a domain member server administrator group (see V-36433 in the Active Directory Domain STIG). Restricting highly privileged accounts from the local Administrators group helps mitigate the risk of privilege escalation resulting from credential theft attacks. Systems dedicated to the management of Active Directory (AD admin platforms, see V-36436 in the Active Directory Domain STIG) are exempt from this. AD admin platforms may use the Domain Admins group or a domain administrative group created specifically for AD admin platforms (see V-43711 in the Active Directory Domain STIG). Standard user accounts must not be members of the built-in Administrators group.

STIG	Date
Windows Server 2016 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2017-05-18

Details

Check Text ( C-73323r1_chk )
This applies to member servers and standalone systems. A separate version applies to domain controllers. Open "Computer Management". Navigate to "Groups" under "Local Users and Groups". Review the local "Administrators" group. Only administrator groups or accounts responsible for administration of the system may be members of the group. For domain-joined member servers, the Domain Admins group must be replaced by a domain member server administrator group. Systems dedicated to the management of Active Directory (AD admin platforms, see V-36436 in the Active Directory Domain STIG) are exempt from this. AD admin platforms may use the Domain Admins group or a domain administrative group created specifically for AD admin platforms (see V-43711 in the Active Directory Domain STIG). Standard user accounts must not be members of the local Administrator group. If accounts that do not have responsibility for administration of the system are members of the local Administrators group, this is a finding. If the built-in Administrator account or other required administrative accounts are found on the system, this is not a finding.

Check Text ( C-73323r1_chk )

This applies to member servers and standalone systems. A separate version applies to domain controllers.

Open "Computer Management".

Navigate to "Groups" under "Local Users and Groups".

Review the local "Administrators" group.

Only administrator groups or accounts responsible for administration of the system may be members of the group.

For domain-joined member servers, the Domain Admins group must be replaced by a domain member server administrator group.

Systems dedicated to the management of Active Directory (AD admin platforms, see V-36436 in the Active Directory Domain STIG) are exempt from this. AD admin platforms may use the Domain Admins group or a domain administrative group created specifically for AD admin platforms (see V-43711 in the Active Directory Domain STIG).

Standard user accounts must not be members of the local Administrator group.

If accounts that do not have responsibility for administration of the system are members of the local Administrators group, this is a finding.

If the built-in Administrator account or other required administrative accounts are found on the system, this is not a finding.

Fix Text (F-80263r1_fix)
Configure the local "Administrators" group to include only administrator groups or accounts responsible for administration of the system. For domain-joined member servers, replace the Domain Admins group with a domain member server administrator group. Systems dedicated to the management of Active Directory (AD admin platforms, see V-36436 in the Active Directory Domain STIG) are exempt from this. AD admin platforms may use the Domain Admins group or a domain administrative group created specifically for AD admin platforms (see V-43711 in the Active Directory Domain STIG). Remove any standard user accounts.

Fix Text (F-80263r1_fix)

Configure the local "Administrators" group to include only administrator groups or accounts responsible for administration of the system.

For domain-joined member servers, replace the Domain Admins group with a domain member server administrator group.

Systems dedicated to the management of Active Directory (AD admin platforms, see V-36436 in the Active Directory Domain STIG) are exempt from this. AD admin platforms may use the Domain Admins group or a domain administrative group created specifically for AD admin platforms (see V-43711 in the Active Directory Domain STIG).

Remove any standard user accounts.