Microsoft Windows 11

Unencrypted passwords must not be sent to third-party SMB Servers

STIG ID: WN11-SO-000110 | SRG: SRG-OS-000074-GPOS-00042 | Severity: Medium | CCI: CCI-000197 | Vulnerability ID: V-253450

Description

Some non-Microsoft SMB servers only support unencrypted (plain text) password authentication. Sending plain text passwords across the network, when authenticating to an SMB server, reduces the overall security of the environment. Check with the vendor of the SMB server to see if there is a way to support encrypted password authentication.

Check

C-56903r829432_chk

If the following registry value does not exist or is not configured as specified, this is a finding:Registry Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINERegistry Path: \SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters\Value Name: EnablePlainTextPasswordValue Type: REG_DWORDValue: 0

Fix

F-56853r829433_fix

Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Windows Settings >> Security Settings >> Local Policies >> Security Options >> "Microsoft network client: Send unencrypted password to third-party SMB servers" to "Disabled".