Title

Windows Server 2016 must be configured to audit DS Access - Directory Service Changes successes. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

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. Audit Directory Service Changes records events related to changes made to objects in Active Directory Domain Services. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000327-GPOS-00127, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000463-GPOS-00207, SRG-OS-000468-GPOS-00212

Check Content

This applies to domain controllers. It is NA for other systems. 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. DS Access >> Directory Service Changes - Success

Fix Text

Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Windows Settings >> Security Settings >> Advanced Audit Policy Configuration >> System Audit Policies >> DS Access >> "Directory Service Changes" with "Success" selected.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-224989r852361_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-224989

Group Title: SRG-OS-000327-GPOS-00127

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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