How to prevent users from opening PowerShell in a different Execution Policy than you require.

Users have the ability to open PowerShell with any Execution Policy level that they want. The idea behind the Execution Policy is to prevent unintentional execution of scripts. Your users do this by typing at a command line:

PowerShell –ExecutionPolicy PolicyLevel

The PolicyLevel is the desired Execution Policy. Through Social Engineering, an attacker could instruct a user how to execute their malicious scripts by using the above method of the Set-ExecutionPolicy cmdlet.

You can prevent this by using Group Policy. I created a GPO with the sole purpose of setting the PowerShell Execution Policy to AllSigned. This setting is located at Computer Configuration \ Policies \ Administrative Templates \ Windows Components \ Windows PowerShell \ Turn on Script Execution.

I applied the policy and verified that the client’s default execution policy was set to AllSigned by opening PowerShell using the GUI.

I then closed PowerShell and then opened it again. This time by using the following command line:

PowerShell –ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted

I was able to confirm that my Group Policy prevented my user from changing the Execution Policy.

When I used the Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted command and also confirmed the change, I received this error.

I also confirmed that my Execution Policy was still set to AllSigned.

Comments

Sticky Key problem between Windows Server 2012 and LogMeIn

This week I instructed my first class using Windows Server 2012 accessed via LogMeIn and discovered a Sticky Key problem every time you press the Shift key. Here is my solution to resolve this. First off, in the Preferences of LogMeIn for the connection to the Windows Server, click General . Change the Keyboard and mouse priority to Host side user and click Apply at the bottom. On the Windows 2012 server, open the Control Panel – Ease of Access – Change how your keyboard works . Uncheck Turn on Sticky Keys . Click Set up Sticky Keys . Uncheck Turn on Sticky Keys when SHIFT is pressed five times . Click OK twice. If you are using Windows Server 2012 as a Hyper-V host, you will need to redo the Easy of Use settings on each guest operating system in order to avoid the Sticky Key Problem. Updated Information: March 20, 2013 If you continue to have problems, Uncheck Turn on Filter Keys .

Where did a User’s Account Get Locked Out?

Updated: May 15, 2015 When this article was originally published, two extra carriage returns were add causing the code to malfunction. The code below is correct. My client for this week’s PowerShell class had a really interesting question. They needed to know where an account is being locked out at. OK, interesting. Apparently users hop around clients and forget to log off, leading to eventual lock out of their accounts. The accounts can be unlocked, but are then relocked after Active Directory replication. This problem is solved in two parts. The first one is to modify the event auditing on the network. The second part is resolved with PowerShell. The first part involves creating a group policy that will encompass your Domain Controllers. In this GPO, make these changes. Expand Computer Configuration \ Policies \ Windows Settings \ Security Settings \ Advanced Audit Policy Configuration \ Audit Policies \ Account Management Double click User Account Management C...

Backup and Restore AD LDS with DSDBUTIL.exe

Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services allow you to create a directory service that allows applications to have access to user accounts, groups, and authentication similar to Active Directory Domain Services. The big advantage here is that the schema of the directory service will not be bound by the rules of an Active Directory database. Exchange 2007/2010, for example, use an instance of AD LDS on the Edge Transport Server to provide for user authentication from the internet. Because your Active Directory database is not exposed to the internet, this is more secure. Applications will handle most of the dirty work should they require AD LDS. You may want to make sure the database is being backed up and also have a restore plan in place. Should the database become corrupt, the application that uses that database will fail. This document will walk you through backing up and restoring an instance of AD LDS using the dsdbutil.exe command. Fi...

Jason Yoder, MCT

Search This Blog