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Administrative accounts of all high-value IT resources must be assigned to a specific administrative tier in Active Directory to separate highly privileged administrative accounts from less privileged administrative accounts.

Overview

Finding IDVersionRule IDIA ControlsSeverity
V-243444WPAW-00-000400SV-243444r991589_ruleCCI-000366medium
Description
Note: The Microsoft Tier 0-2 AD administrative tier model (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/securing-privileged-access/securing-privileged-access-reference-material#ADATM_BM) is an example. A key security construct of a PAW is to separate administrative accounts into specific trust levels so that an administrator account used to manage an IT resource at one trust level cannot be used to manage IT resources at another trust level. This architecture protects IT resources in a tier from threats from higher-risk tiers. Isolating administrative accounts by forcing them to operate only within their assigned trust zone implements the concept of containment of security risks and adversaries within a specific zone. The Tier model prevents escalation of privilege by restricting what administrators can control and where they can log on.
STIGDate
Microsoft Windows PAW Security Technical Implementation Guide2025-05-23

Related Frameworks

2 mappings across 5 frameworks
SCF0 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (9) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

CFG-01Configuration Management Program
1.00
END-01Endpoint Device Management (EDM)
1.00
END-04Malicious Code Protection (Anti-Malware)
1.00
END-06Endpoint File Integrity Monitoring (FIM)
1.00
IAC-21.3Management Approval For Privileged Accounts
1.00
MON-01Continuous Monitoring
1.00
MON-01.7File Integrity Monitoring (FIM)
1.00
CFG-02Secure Baseline Configurations
0.50
CFG-02.7Approved Configuration Deviations
0.50
NIST 800-530 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 2 hops (100) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

AC-12Session Termination
1.00
AC-16(1)Dynamic Attribute Association
1.00
AC-17(1)Monitoring and Control
1.00
AC-2Account Management
1.00
AC-2(1)Automated System Account Management
1.00
AC-2(11)Usage Conditions
1.00
AC-2(3)Disable Accounts
1.00
AC-2(4)Automated Audit Actions
1.00
AC-24(1)Transmit Access Authorization Information
1.00
AC-25Reference Monitor
1.00

+90 more (top 10 by confidence shown)

NIST 800-1710 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (3) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

3.1.5
1.00
3.4.1
1.00
3.4.2
1.00
CCI2 mappings
CCI-000366
1.00
CCI-002227
1.00
NIST CSF 2.00 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (5) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

DE.CM-09
1.00
PR.PS-01
1.00
PR.DS-10
0.50
PR.PSPlatform Security
0.50
PR.PS-05
0.50

Who does this work

10 NICE work roles and 9 EC-Council certifications.

This is an inference across published mappings, not a single claim by anyone. This check maps to a control, which maps to a Cybersecurity Framework outcome, which NIST assigns to the work roles below. EC-Council separately maps its certifications to those same roles.

A certification prepares someone for a role. It is not evidence that a holder is qualified, and neither NIST nor EC-Council has stated that any certification here addresses this check.

Work-role assignments published by NIST (NICE Framework Components 2.2.0 and the CSF 2.0 OLIR crosswalk). Certification mappings published by EC-Council.

Details

Check Text (C-243444r991589_chk)

In Active Directory, verify an Organizational Unit (OU) and Group hierarchy have been set up to segregate administrative accounts used to manage both high-value IT resources and PAWs into assigned tiers. Verify each administrative account and each PAW has been assigned to one and only one tier. If the site has not set up a tier structure on Active Directory for administrative accounts used to manage either high-value IT resources or PAWs, this is a finding. If any administrative account used to manage either high-value IT resources or PAWs is assigned to more than one tier, this is a finding. If each administrative account and each PAW has not been assigned to one and only one tier, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-46676r722902_fix)

Set up an administrative tier model for the domain (for example, the Microsoft recommended Tier 0-2 AD administrative tier model). Note: Details of the Tier model are found at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/securing-privileged-access/securing-privileged-access-reference-material#ADATM_BM. Set up an Admin Organizational Unit (OU) Framework to host site PAWs. (Recommend the Microsoft PAW scripts be used to set up the PAW OU and group framework. They can be downloaded at http://aka.ms/PAWmedia.) For example: - Admin\Tier 0\Accounts - Admin\Tier 1\Accounts - Admin\Tier 2\Accounts - Admin\Tier 0\Groups - Admin\Tier 1\Groups - Admin\Tier 2\Groups - Admin\Tier 0\Devices - Admin\Tier 1\Devices - Admin\Tier 2\Devices Note: If using the Microsoft scripts, after running the scripts, PAW Users Tier 0, PAW Users Tier 1, and PAW Users Tier 2 groups may need to be created under Admin/Tier 0/Groups, Admin/Tier 1/Groups, and Admin/Tier 2/Groups, respectively. Set up administrative accounts for each assigned administrator for high-value IT resources. Based on the list of high-value IT resources with assigned administrative tier level, move Tier 0-2 administrative accounts to the appropriate Organizational Units and add the appropriate members to the relevant groups. Make sure each account and group has been assigned to one and only one tier. (Reference-defined groups in the Active Directory Domain STIG)