Account lockout available for built-in local administrators

Hi

Today I wanted to share a nice new change Microsoft introduced in the 11 October 2022 cumulative update.

Account lockout are available for built-in local administrators for any network service (RDP, etc..) but not for Console access.

If you want to see where it’s;

It’s a nice way to be able to block password bruteforce tip.

The location is Local Computer Policy\Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Account Policies\Account Lockout Policies

To note if you use a Windows build 22H2 with the newer update to deploy computer the option will be Enabled by default, and Microsoft will enable the use of complex password at the same time. You can unset the later setting, but it can be a security risk. (Local Computer Policy\Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Account Policies\Password Policy)

You can read more on the topic are; KB5020282

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PacRequestorEnforcement Enforcement date

Hi everyone

I wanted to share that soon enformement of the PAC inside a KRB ticket will be active. (22 October 2022)

If in your enviromment you still see such error;

The KDC encounters a TGT or other evidence ticket without a PAC. This prevents the KDC from enforcing security checks on the ticket.

That can have an impact if you have older domain controler, like a 2008R2 without the extended support option, as such the fix is not available for them.

A registry key exist, but after the 22 October 2022 it will no longer be checked;

To quote the registry key information;

Registry subkey	HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Kdc
Value	PacRequestorEnforcement
Data type	REG_DWORD
Data	1: Add the new PAC to users who authenticated using an Active Directory domain controller that has the November 9, 2021 or later updates installed. When authenticating, if the user has the new PAC, the PAC is validated. If the user does not have the new PAC, no further action is taken. Active Directory domain controllers in this mode are in the Deployment phase.2: Add the new PAC to users who authenticated using an Active Directory domain controller that has the November 9, 2021 or later updates installed. When authenticating, if the user has the new PAC, the PAC is validated. If the user does not have the new PAC, the authentication is denied. Active Directory domain controllers in this mode are in the Enforcement phase.0: Disables the registry key. Not recommended. Active Directory domain controllers in this mode are in the Disabled phase. This value will not exist after the July 12, 2022 or later updates.Important Setting 0 is not compatible with setting 2. Intermittent failures might occur if both settings are used within a forest. If setting 0 is used, we recommend that you transition setting 0 (Disable) to setting 1 (Deployment) for at least a week before moving to setting 2 (Enforcement mode).
Default	1 (when registry key is not set)
Is a restart required?	No

This come from KB5008380—Authentication updates (CVE-2021-42287) patch.

I suggest to quickly remove those older DC if you can, else just make sure you are updated.

Removing Team from autostarting GPO

Today I wanted to share a small tip if you need to remove Team from autostarting when the session start for your users.

The easiest way if you have installed it to your user without the autostart at off is to remove by GPO the run command.

The path is;

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

com.squirrel.Teams.Teams

At the next logon your user will not see the Teams application loading, which can help on load time 🙂

Upgrading HP Thin Client T420

Hi

Today I wanted to share a tip if someday you want to upgrade the hard disk that Thin Client terminal. As by default it come with a 32 or 64 g HDD.

The terminal come with Windows 10 LTSB 2016 by default, which can be upgraded to LTSC 2019 with added licensing from HP, but it can be hard to do the update with the smaller SSD that the unit has, so the upgrade can be necessary in the end. (I didn’t tried Windows 11 in it)

The interior look that way;

As you can see we have not much room for improvement, but in that specific case I would be using the WiFi pciex connector to connect the new SSD.

I remove the card;

The goal will be to put an adapter;

In the end it look that way;

I recommend to use a small SSD, to be able to close back the case.

After that we can boot, and install the OS inside the SSD 🙂