AD-GPOREP-18: No GPOs should contain a cpassword
| ID | AD-GPOREP-18 |
| Severity | Critical |
| Suite | Active Directory (on-premises) |
| Product | Active Directory |
| Feature | Group Policy |
| Security area | Authentication |
| Resource type | GroupPolicy |
| User impact of fixing | Low |
| Effort to fix | Medium |
| Framework controls | nist-800-53-r5:IA-5(1) Authenticator Management | Password-based Authenticationnist-800-53-r5:SC-28 Protection of Information at Rest |
| MITRE ATT&CK | T1552.006 |
| Reads from | On-premises Active Directory |
What this checks and how to fix it
Section titled “What this checks and how to fix it”Test-MtAdGpoCpasswordFoundDetails
Section titled “Test-MtAdGpoCpasswordFoundDetails”Returns details of GPOs that contain a cpassword.
Why This Test Matters
Section titled “Why This Test Matters”- Detective control: detects GPOs that contain a Cpassword which could be exploited if leaked.
- Cpasswords expose sensitive credentials and should be protected.
Control Type
Section titled “Control Type”Detective
Security Recommendation
Section titled “Security Recommendation”- Rotate or remove the cpasswords where necessary and apply proper protection controls.
How the Test Works
Section titled “How the Test Works”- Uses Get-MtADGpoState to obtain GPO data, filters for reports where CpasswordFound is true, and formats a Markdown table.
Related Tests
Section titled “Related Tests”Test-MtAdGpoCpasswordFoundCount- counts GPOs with cpasswords.
Related links
Section titled “Related links”- Microsoft Learn - Group Policy security
- ANSSI checkpoint: https://www.anssi.gouv.fr/
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