V-278163

Discussion

Unsigned network traffic is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks, where an intruder captures packets between the server and the client and modifies them before forwarding them to the client. In the case of an LDAP server, this means that an attacker could cause a client to make decisions based on false records from the LDAP directory. The risk of an attacker pulling this off can be decreased by implementing strong physical security measures to protect the network infrastructure. Furthermore, implementing Internet Protocol security (IPsec) authentication header (AH) mode, which performs mutual authentication and packet integrity for IP traffic, can make all types of man-in-the-middle attacks extremely difficult. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000423-GPOS-00187, SRG-OS-000424-GPOS-00188

Check Content

This applies to domain controllers. It is not applicable for other systems.

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: \SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NTDS\Parameters\

Value Name: LDAPServerEnforceIntegrity

Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0x00000001 (1)

Note: This LDAPServerEnforceIntegrity registry key explicitly overrides the legacy LDAPServerIntegrity key used in Windows Server 2022 and older. If this enforcement key is present and enabled, LDAP signing is strictly required regardless of the older policy setting.