18.9.33.6.4 (BL) Ensure 'Allow standby states (S1-S3) when sleeping (plugged in)' is set to 'Disabled'

Information

This policy setting manages whether or not Windows is allowed to use standby states when putting the computer in a sleep state.

The recommended state for this setting is: Disabled

System sleep states (S1-S3) keep power to the RAM which may contain secrets, such as the BitLocker volume encryption key. An attacker finding a computer in sleep states (S1-S3) could directly attack the memory of the computer and gain access to the secrets through techniques such as RAM reminisce and direct memory access (DMA).

Solution

To establish the recommended configuration via GP, set the following UI path to Disabled :

Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\System\Power Management\Sleep Settings\Allow standby states (S1-S3) when sleeping (plugged in)

Note: This Group Policy path is provided by the Group Policy template Power.admx/adml that is included with the Microsoft Windows 8.0 & Server 2012 (non-R2) Administrative Templates (or newer).

Impact:

Users will not be able to use Sleep (S3) while plugged in, which resumes faster than Hibernation (S4).

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/16515

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT, SYSTEM AND SERVICES ACQUISITION

References: 800-53|CM-1, 800-53|CM-2, 800-53|CM-6, 800-53|CM-7, 800-53|CM-7(1), 800-53|CM-9, 800-53|SA-3, 800-53|SA-8, 800-53|SA-10, CSCv7|5.1

Plugin: Windows

Control ID: 860624898adde10625b23016115e87fc4359419ddbc36f25864d994070336a97