Security baselines for Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Internet Explorer 11 (BETA)

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Update, 13 August 2014: The final version of this guidance has been posted here.
The changes since the beta are described here, with a separate discussion about the changes in the Account Lockout policy here.

Microsoft is pleased to announce the beta release of security baseline settings for Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Internet Explorer 11.  Some of the highlights of the new security baselines (many of which we intend to backport to older versions of Windows and IE):

  • Use of new and existing settings to help block some Pass the Hash attack vectors;
  • Blocking the use of web browsers on domain controllers;
  • Incorporation of the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) into the standard baselines;
  • Removal of the recommendation to enable "FIPS mode" (this is discussed in greater detail in this blog post: Why We’re Not Recommending “FIPS Mode” Anymore);
  • Removal of almost all service startup settings, and all server role baselines that contain only service startup settings.

Settings are provided as four separate sets of baselines, for the following configurations:  Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2 Domain Controller, Windows Server 2012 R2 Member Server, and Internet Explorer 11.

While we are preparing the content in the format used for inclusion in the Security Compliance Manager (SCM), we are making the baselines available as a download package attached to this blog post.  The download includes a Word document describing various aspects of the changes from previous baselines, a spreadsheet listing all the baseline settings and highlighting all the new and updated settings, Group Policy Objects (GPOs), scripts and utilities to import the full complement of settings into local group policy for evaluation and testing, a new custom ADMX to expose some important settings that aren't currently exposed by Windows as Group Policy settings, and WMI filters to ensure that GPOs are applied to appropriate systems.

Download and extract the attached "Win81-WS2012R2-IE11-Baselines-BETA.zip".  It contains the following folders:

  • Administrative Template:  an ADMX and (US English) ADML file surfacing some "pass the hash"-relevant settings through the Group Policy editor.  (Note: the Local_Script folder contains scripts that install these files to the appropriate location.)
  • Documentation:  "Recommended Security Baseline Settings.docx" is a Word doc that categorizes and describes all the new and updated settings (you should probably start here); this folder also contains "SCM Windows 8.1 and 2012 R2 Settings.xlsx", an Excel spreadsheet that describes the full set of recommended settings.
  • GP Reports:  Group Policy reports formatted as HTML files (for those who prefer that format over Excel spreadsheets).
  • GPOs:  Group Policy Object backups for the four separate sets of baselines described earlier.
  • Local_Script:  This directory contains three batch files that apply appropriate settings to the current machine:  81_Client_Install.cmd, 2012R2_DomainController_Install.cmd, and 2012R2_MemberServer_Install.cmd. 
  • WMI Filters:  This directory contains .MOF files that you can import into your Group Policy configuration to ensure that GPOs are applied only to the appropriate systems.

We will follow up on this blog with additional announcements and details.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    April 07, 2014
    In the latest review of the official Microsoft security baselines for all versions of Windows client

  • Anonymous
    April 07, 2014
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    April 13, 2014
    Is the a .cab file to import in to SCM for Windows 8.1? [Aaron Margosis] That's being worked on, but it's not ready yet.

  • Anonymous
    April 14, 2014
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    May 06, 2014
    When will the final version be released? [Aaron Margosis]  Schedule has not been determined.  Once it is finalized, we will release another .zip file here.  There will probably be a bit of a lag before the content is available in the format that SCM consumes.

  • Anonymous
    May 28, 2014
    Trying to export IE11 BaseLine int .CAB file and IE 11 doesnt exist in SCM. Is there a way to associate IE 11 with the export tool? [Aaron Margosis]  Not yet.  We are still preparing the content in the format that SCM uses.

  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2014
    When I look at my group policy settings, some of the settings listed in the documentation for Windows 8 and Server 2012 don't exist in the policy. How can I get these new policy settings to appear in my group policy management on my domain server? [Aaron Margosis] You need to install the ADMX policy files for 8.1/2012/IE11: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=41193 http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40905

  • Anonymous
    June 19, 2014
    Any ideas when the SCM CAB file for 2012 R2 will be completed? [Aaron Margosis] We expect to publish a final update to the beta in the next week or two in the same format that we published the beta.  The content that can be consumed by SCM will follow in the next month or two.

  • Anonymous
    August 06, 2014
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    August 07, 2014
    Ahh, ok, thanks. I'll give that a shot. Didn't realize "NT AUTHORITYLocal account" mapped to all local accounts, either. That's a good detail to know.

  • Anonymous
    August 08, 2014
    Fyi, for anyone who happens upon this post with the same issue, the fix was to modify two of the settings in the security template, "Deny logon through Remote Desktop Services" and "Deny access to this computer from the network". Remove the SID *S-1-5-113 (NT AuthorityLocal account) and the local administrator account will be able to logon via remote desktop. Modifying only one of those settings was not sufficient.

  • Anonymous
    February 24, 2015
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    March 17, 2015
    Hi aaron, just want to check if I could just create a template from 8.1 (beta) and use it on a windows 8 machine? [Aaron Margosis]  I'd use the final rather than the beta, but I don't know of any issues that would arise. The policies that apply only to 8.1 or newer will be ignored on Win8.  BTW, why haven't you upgraded the Win8 to 8.1?

  • Anonymous
    May 26, 2015
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    June 16, 2015
    Has SCM been discontinued? @ https://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/solutionaccelerators/cc835245.aspx its say's "This tool is no longer supported by Microsoft" has it been replaced by something else?

  • Anonymous
    June 16, 2015
    Has SCM been discontinued? @ https://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/solutionaccelerators/cc835245.aspx its say's "This tool is no longer supported by Microsoft" has it been replaced by something else?

  • Anonymous
    August 26, 2015
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    October 22, 2015
    is there any issues with applying the SCM template to Server 2012R2. I am executing LocalGPO and providing the Backup GPO path the command returns success and the inf and policy applied. I restart the server and I do not see the policy been applied. is there anything else I need to change is the VB script to get it to work/ [Aaron Margosis]  I suspect that the problem is that the LocalGPO tool has not been maintained and has version checks built in that don't allow it to run on anything newer than Win8 and 2012.  See the download packages here and here for scripts and tools that do work.