Ensure 'Limits print driver installation to Administrators' is set to 'Enabled'

HighLevel 1Automatedwindows

Description

This policy setting controls whether users who aren't Administrators can install print drivers on the system. The recommended state for this setting is: Enabled. Note: On August 10, 2021, Microsoft announced a Point and Print Default Behavior Change which modifies the default Point and Print driver installation and update behavior to require Administrator privileges. This is documented in KB5005652— Manage new Point and Print default driver installation behavior (CVE-2021-34481).

How it is checked

Audit method: Windows registry

registry

$bad = @(); $v = (Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\PointAndPrint' -Name 'RestrictDriverInstallationToAdministrators' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).'RestrictDriverInstallationToAdministrators'; if (-not ($null -ne $v -and @(1) -contains [int64]$v)) { $bad += 'RestrictDriverInstallationToAdministrators=' + $v }; if ($bad.Count -eq 0) { 'compliant' } else { 'non-compliant: ' + ($bad -join ', ') }

Expected output: compliant

How it is fixed

Fix method: Shell command

shell

if (-not (Test-Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\PointAndPrint')) { New-Item -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\PointAndPrint' -Force | Out-Null }; New-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\PointAndPrint' -Name 'RestrictDriverInstallationToAdministrators' -Value 1 -PropertyType DWord -Force | Out-Null

Properties

Operating systems: windows-10
Tags: cis-convertedregistrywindows
Reference: CIS Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise Benchmark v4.0.0 - 18.7.9

Check this host

Run this on a machine you are allowed to audit. The scan is read-only.

shell

tmaegis scan --target windows