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WN11-AC-000010 The number of allowed bad logon attempts must be configured to three or less.

DISA STIG library V2R11
All changes in this version
first version loaded CAT II

Maps to AC-7 via CCI-000044

Title

The number of allowed bad logon attempts must be configured to three or less.

Control

Verify the effective setting in Local Group Policy Editor. Run "gpedit.msc". Navigate to Local Computer Policy >> Computer Configuration >> Windows Settings >> Security Settings >> Account Policies >> Account Lockout Policy. If the "Account lockout threshold" is "0" or more than "3" attempts, this is a finding.

Discussion

The account lockout feature, when enabled, prevents brute-force password attacks on the system. The higher this value is, the less effective the account lockout feature will be in protecting the local system. The number of bad logon attempts must be reasonably small to minimize the possibility of a successful password attack, while allowing for honest errors made during a normal user logon.

Related controls

CCI-000044

Fix

Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Windows Settings >> Security Settings >> Account Policies >> Account Lockout Policy >> "Account lockout threshold" to "3" or less invalid logon attempts (excluding "0" which is unacceptable).