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V-205866

CAT II (Medium)

Windows Server 2019 group policy objects must be reprocessed even if they have not changed.

Rule ID

SV-205866r1135352_rule

STIG

Microsoft Windows Server 2019 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V3R8

CCIs

CCI-000366

Discussion

Registry entries for group policy settings can potentially be changed from the required configuration. This could occur as part of troubleshooting or by a malicious process on a compromised system. Enabling this setting and then selecting the "Process even if the Group Policy objects have not changed" option ensures the policies will be reprocessed even if none have been changed. This way, any unauthorized changes are forced to match the domain-based group policy settings again.

Check Content

This requirement is not applicable for Domain Controllers.

If the following registry value does not exist or is not configured as specified, this is a finding:

Registry Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Registry Path: \SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy\{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}\

Value Name: NoGPOListChanges

Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0x00000000 (0)

Fix Text

Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> System >> Group Policy >> "Configure registry policy processing" to "Enabled" with the option "Process even if the Group Policy objects have not changed" selected.