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4.4.5 (L1) Ensure 'WDigest Authentication' is set to 'Disabled'

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Information

When WDigest authentication is enabled, Lsass.exe retains a copy of the user's plaintext password in memory, where it can be at risk of theft. If this setting is not configured, WDigest authentication is disabled in Windows 8.1 and in Windows Server 2012 R2; it is enabled by default in earlier versions of Windows and Windows Server.

For more information about local accounts and credential theft, review the '

Mitigating Pass-the-Hash (PtH) Attacks and Other Credential Theft Techniques

' documents.

For more information about UseLogonCredential see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 2871997:

Microsoft Security Advisory Update to improve credentials protection and management May 13, 2014

.

The recommended state for this setting is: Disabled

Preventing the plaintext storage of credentials in memory may reduce opportunity for credential theft.

Solution

To establish the recommended configuration via configuration profiles, set the following Settings Catalog path to Disabled

Administrative Templates\MS Security Guide\WDigest Authentication (disabling may require KB2871997)

Impact:

None - this is also the default configuration for Windows 8.1 or newer.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/21719

Item Details

References: CSCv7|16.4

Plugin: Windows

Control ID: 8f01154996b19edbb4fab89aa37afe61c67e38c605b802d14879ca5aa769a716