18.7.11 (L1) Ensure 'Point and Print Restrictions: When updating drivers for an existing connection' is set to 'Enabled: Show warning and elevation prompt'

Information

This policy setting controls whether computers will show a warning and a security elevation prompt when users are updating drivers for an existing connection using Point and Print.

The recommended state for this setting is: Enabled: Show warning and elevation prompt

Note: On August 10, 2021, Microsoft announced a Point and Print Default Behavior Change https://msrc-blog.microsoft.com/2021/08/10/point-and-print-default-behavior-change/ which modifies the default Point and Print driver installation and update behavior to require Administrator privileges. This is documented in KB5005652-Manage new Point and Print default driver installation behavior (CVE-2021-34481) https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/topic/kb5005652-manage-new-point-and-print-default-driver-installation-behavior-cve-2021-34481-873642bf-2634-49c5-a23b-6d8e9a302872 . This change overrides all Point and Print Group Policy settings and ensures that only Administrators can install printer drivers from a print server using Point and Print.

Enabling Windows User Account Control (UAC) for updating existing print drivers can help mitigate the PrintNightmare vulnerability ( CVE-2021-34527 https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2021-34527 ) and other Print Spooler attacks.

Although the Point and Print default driver installation behavior overrides this setting, it is important to configure this as a backstop in the event that behavior is reversed.

Solution

To establish the recommended configuration via GP, set the following UI path to Enabled: Show warning and elevation prompt :

Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Printers\Point and Print Restrictions: When updating drivers for an existing connection

Note: This Group Policy path is provided by the Group Policy template Printing.admx/adml that is included with all versions of the Microsoft Windows Administrative Templates.

Impact:

None - this is the default behavior.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/17689

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

References: 800-53|CM-6b.

Plugin: Windows

Control ID: 2f4ace5a251535ddce10d0d5cf2fd51c6d031bc1d44a8489a7dd0b00e95e496f