Security Misconfiguration
Users and Computers Can Create and Delegate Computer Accounts
TCM-KB-INT-001
Last Updated: 6/14/2023
Microsoft Windows Server
The recommended remediation steps and configurations described in this response would primarily affect systems running Microsoft Active Directory (AD) as a part of their IT infrastructure.
Active Directory
Active Directory is a directory service developed by Microsoft for Windows domain networks, and it provides centralized management and authentication services for the network.
Contributor
Joe Helle
Chief Hacking Officer
This Knowledge Base Article was submitted by: Joe Helle.
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Security Misconfiguration
Issue
Default Active Directory deployments permit valid domain user and computer accounts to create up to ten (10) computer accounts in the domain. This default is configured in the MS-DS-Machine-Account-Quota attribute in the domain.
Recommended Remediation
The following outlines the recommended steps that the systems and network administrators should take in order to secure the environment.
Administrators can determine the attribute value via ADSI. To view the Attribute via ADSI and modify it, use the following steps:
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- Open the Server Manager with a privileged account, click the Tools menu, and select ADSI Edit
- Open the Server Manager with a privileged account, click the Tools menu, and select ADSI Edit
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- In the ADSI Edit window, select Action, Connect To, and enter the appropriate information for the domain. In most cases, the default settings are valid for this task. Click OK once verified.
- In the ADSI Edit window, select Action, Connect To, and enter the appropriate information for the domain. In most cases, the default settings are valid for this task. Click OK once verified.
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- Click the drop down for the new naming context, right click the directory beginning with DC=, and select Properties
- In the Properties window, scroll down to ms-DS-MachineAccountQuota, and observe the value. Reduce the value to zero, or whichever value your organization has deemed appropriate.
- Utilizing a non-domain joined computer for testing, attempt to join the computer to the Active Directory environment. When configured correctly, an error should occur stating that the computer cannot join the domain.
- In the Properties window, scroll down to ms-DS-MachineAccountQuota, and observe the value. Reduce the value to zero, or whichever value your organization has deemed appropriate.
- Click the drop down for the new naming context, right click the directory beginning with DC=, and select Properties
The process can also be replicated utilizing PowerShell. Utilize the following command to query the ms-DS-MachineAccountQuota value:
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- Get-ADObject -Identity ((Get-ADDomain).distinguishedname) -Properties ms-ds-machineaccountquota
- Get-ADObject -Identity ((Get-ADDomain).distinguishedname) -Properties ms-ds-machineaccountquota
Utilize the following PowerShell command to set the value to zero (0), and check the value afterwards. Ensure that the domain name reflects the current domain
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- Set-ADDomain -Identity <domain> -Replace @{“ms-ds-machineaccountquota”=”0”}
- Set-ADDomain -Identity <domain> -Replace @{“ms-ds-machineaccountquota”=”0”}
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