CIS Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise Release 1909 Benchmark

2.2.14 (L1) Configure 'Create symbolic links' (Scored)

ProfileApplicability:

 Level 1 (L1) - Corporate/Enterprise Environment (general use)

Description:

This policy setting determines which users can create symbolic links. InWindows Vista, existing NTFS file system objects, such as files and folders, can be accessed by referring to a new kind of file system object called a symbolic link. A symbolic link is a pointer (much like a shortcut or .lnk file) to another file system object, which can be a file, folder, shortcut or another symbolic link. The difference between a shortcut and a symbolic link is that a shortcut only works fromwithin the Windows shell. To other programs and applications, shortcuts are just another file, whereas with symbolic links, the concept of a shortcut is implemented as a feature of the NTFS file system. Symbolic links can potentially expose security vulnerabilities in applications that are not designed to use them. For this reason, the privilege for creating symbolic links should only be assigned to trusted users. By default, only Administrators cancreate symbolic links.

The recommended state for this setting is: Administrators and(when the Hyper-V feature is installed) NT VIRTUAL MACHINE\Virtual Machines .

Rationale:

Users who have the Create symbolic links user right could inadvertently or maliciously expose your system to symbolic link attacks. Symbolic link attacks can be used to change the permissions on a file, to corrupt data, to destroy data, or as a Denial of Service attack.

Audit:

Navigate to the UI Path articulated in the Remediation section and confirm it is set as prescribed.

Remediation:

To implement the recommended configuration state, configure the following UI path:

Computer Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\User Rights Assignment\Create symbolic links

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