Title

User Account Control must automatically deny elevation requests for standard users. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

User Account Control (UAC) is a security mechanism for limiting the elevation of privileges, including administrative accounts, unless authorized. Denying elevation requests from standard user accounts requires tasks that need elevation to be initiated by accounts with administrative privileges. This ensures correct accounts are used on the system for privileged tasks to help mitigate credential theft.

Check Content

If the following registry value does not exist or is not configured as specified, this is a finding: Registry Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Registry Path: \SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\ Value Name: ConsentPromptBehaviorUser Value Type: REG_DWORD Value: 0

Fix Text

Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Windows Settings >> Security Settings >> Local Policies >> Security Options >> "User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for standard users" to "Automatically deny elevation requests".

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-220947r852017_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-220947

Group Title: SRG-OS-000373-GPOS-00157

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

Controls tied to check. These are derived from the CCIs shown above.