Detections
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2.3.1.2 Ensure 'Accounts: Guest account status' is set to 'Disabled'

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This audit has been deprecated and will be removed in a future update.

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Information

This policy setting determines whether the Guest account is enabled or disabled. The Guest account allows unauthenticated network users to gain access to the system.

The recommended state for this setting is: Disabled.

Rationale:

The default Guest account allows unauthenticated network users to log on as Guest with no password. These unauthorized users could access any resources that are accessible to the Guest account over the network. This capability means that any network shares with permissions that allow access to the Guest account, the Guests group, or the Everyone group will be accessible over the network, which could lead to the exposure or corruption of data.

Impact:

All network users will need to authenticate before they can access shared resources. If you disable the Guest account and the Network Access: Sharing and Security Model option is set to Guest Only, network logons, such as those performed by the Microsoft Network Server (SMB Service), will fail. This policy setting should have little impact on most organizations because it is the default setting in Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server(TM) 2003.

Solution

To establish the recommended configuration, set the following Device Configuration Policy to Disabled:

To access the Device Configuration Policy from the Intune Home page:

Click Devices

Click Configuration profiles

Click Create profile

Select the platform (Windows 10 and later)

Select the profile (Endpoint protection)

Click Create

Enter a Name

Click Next

Configure the following Setting

Path: Endpoint protection/Local device security options/Accounts
Setting Name: Guest account
Configuration: Block

Select OK

Continue through the Wizard to complete the creation of the profile (profile assignments, applicability etc.)

Note: More than one configuration setting from each of the Configuration profiles (ex: Administrative Templates, Custom etc.) can be added to each Device Configuration Policy.

Note #2: This setting can also be created via a Custom Configuration Profile using the following OMA-URI:

Name: <Enter name>
Description: <Enter Description>
OMA-URI: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/LocalPoliciesSecurityOptions/Accounts_EnableGuestAccountStatus
Data type: Integer
Value: 0

Select OK

Continue through the Wizard to complete the creation of the profile (profile assignments, applicability etc.)

Default Value:

Disabled.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/14355

Item Details

References: CSCv7|16.8

Plugin: Windows

Control ID: 329823aefc3c6e62fddc17beafb6b85d720d0b45bb51a6f94f3efb9477d84c2d