[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":486},["ShallowReactive",2],{"post-configure-credential-guard-computer-accounts":3,"post-list":206},{"id":4,"title":5,"alsoIn":6,"body":7,"category":191,"date":192,"description":193,"draft":194,"extension":195,"image":196,"links":6,"meta":197,"navigation":198,"order":6,"path":199,"readingTime":180,"seo":200,"series":6,"stem":201,"strength":202,"tags":203,"unlisted":194,"updated":6,"__hash__":205},"posts\u002Fposts\u002Fconfigure-credential-guard-computer-accounts.md","Configure Credential Guard for Computer Accounts",null,{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":179},"minimark",[10,15,19,22,25,28,32,35,47,49,53,56,63,66,71,74,79,82,85,90,93,98,101,106,109,114,119,122,125,129,132,136,139,142,147,150,155,158,163,166,170,173,176],[11,12,14],"h2",{"id":13},"foreword","Foreword",[16,17,18],"p",{},"In Windows Server 2025, Microsoft added the ability to secure computer accounts with Credential Guard, in addition to user and service accounts. These accounts are crucial for maintaining the security of Kerberos and service accounts. To reverse this setting, the domain join process must be repeated.",[16,20,21],{},"When computers are part of a domain, they are assigned an account in Active Directory and must authenticate using a password that is automatically generated and updated.",[16,23,24],{},"If the password becomes invalid after restoring the computer, the error message “The trust relationship between this workstation and the primary domain could not be established” will appear.",[16,26,27],{},"Enabling machine identity isolation allows for virtualization-based protection of AD machine accounts. When enabled, the machine account credentials of the device will be relocated into Credential Guard. As a result, all future machine account authentications, such as logging into a domain-joined device, will be routed through Credential Guard. However, if Credential Guard fails to start after a device reboot, it results in the inability to complete domain authentication, potentially requiring intervention from a local administrator account to recover.",[11,29,31],{"id":30},"prerequisites","Prerequisites",[33,34],"br",{},[36,37,38,42],"ul",{},[39,40,41],"li",{},"Windows Server 2025",[39,43,44,45],{},"You need to have Credential Guard configured. For information to this topic, check my blog article about it: \u002Fp\u002Fconfigure-credential-guard-windows\u002F\n",[33,46],{},[33,48],{},[11,50,52],{"id":51},"create-gpo","Create GPO",[16,54,55],{},"Open your Group Policy Management and do a right-click on the \"Group Policy Objects\" folder and select \"New\".",[16,57,58],{},[59,60],"img",{"alt":61,"src":62},"","\u002Fimages\u002Fposts\u002Fconfigure-credential-guard-computer-accounts\u002Fattachments\u002F1.webp",[16,64,65],{},"Choose a good name for the GPO.",[16,67,68],{},[59,69],{"alt":61,"src":70},"\u002Fimages\u002Fposts\u002Fconfigure-credential-guard-computer-accounts\u002Fattachments\u002F2.webp",[16,72,73],{},"Do a right-click on the newly created GPO and select \"Edit\".",[16,75,76],{},[59,77],{"alt":61,"src":78},"\u002Fimages\u002Fposts\u002Fconfigure-credential-guard-computer-accounts\u002Fattachments\u002F3.webp",[16,80,81],{},"Navigate to the following path:",[16,83,84],{},"Computer Configuration -> Policies -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Device Guard",[16,86,87],{},[59,88],{"alt":61,"src":89},"\u002Fimages\u002Fposts\u002Fconfigure-credential-guard-computer-accounts\u002Fattachments\u002F4.webp",[16,91,92],{},"Do a right-click on the \"Turn On Virtualization Based Security\" option and select \"Edit\".",[16,94,95],{},[59,96],{"alt":61,"src":97},"\u002Fimages\u002Fposts\u002Fconfigure-credential-guard-computer-accounts\u002Fattachments\u002F5.webp",[16,99,100],{},"The following window appears.",[16,102,103],{},[59,104],{"alt":61,"src":105},"\u002Fimages\u002Fposts\u002Fconfigure-credential-guard-computer-accounts\u002Fattachments\u002F6.webp",[16,107,108],{},"The option we need is \"Machine Identity Isolation Configuration\".",[16,110,111],{},[59,112],{"alt":61,"src":113},"\u002Fimages\u002Fposts\u002Fconfigure-credential-guard-computer-accounts\u002Fattachments\u002F7.webp",[115,116,118],"h3",{"id":117},"enabled-in-audit-mode","Enabled in audit mode",[16,120,121],{},"This option creates a new secret in Credential Guard and copies it into the Local Security Authority (LSA). The old LSA secret is then deleted. When auditing, attempts to authenticate the machine identity will first try to use the copy in Credential Guard. If that fails, authentication falls back to using the original machine identity from LSA.",[16,123,124],{},"Info: If the policy was previously set to enforcement mode, the device must be manually unjoined and rejoined.",[115,126,128],{"id":127},"enabled-in-enforcement-mode","Enabled in enforcement mode",[16,130,131],{},"This option moves the machine account secret into Credential Guard and deletes it from LSA. This makes the machine account secret inaccessible except as utilized by Credential Guard for machine authentication.",[11,133,135],{"id":134},"link-the-gpo","Link the GPO",[16,137,138],{},"Link the GPO to the servers where the machine account is to be protected by Credential Guard. In this example I link the GPO to my T0 Server OU.",[16,140,141],{},"Da a right-click on the OU and select \"Link an Existing GPO...\".",[16,143,144],{},[59,145],{"alt":61,"src":146},"\u002Fimages\u002Fposts\u002Fconfigure-credential-guard-computer-accounts\u002Fattachments\u002F8.webp",[16,148,149],{},"Select your newly created GPO.",[16,151,152],{},[59,153],{"alt":61,"src":154},"\u002Fimages\u002Fposts\u002Fconfigure-credential-guard-computer-accounts\u002Fattachments\u002F9.webp",[16,156,157],{},"You should then see your linked GPO in the overview.",[16,159,160],{},[59,161],{"alt":61,"src":162},"\u002Fimages\u002Fposts\u002Fconfigure-credential-guard-computer-accounts\u002Fattachments\u002F10.webp",[16,164,165],{},"Then restart the computer or server for the changes to take effect.",[11,167,169],{"id":168},"conclusion","Conclusion",[16,171,172],{},"So why is this important?",[16,174,175],{},"Recent Windows features, such as the Flexible Authentication Secure Tunneling (FAST) Kerberos extension—also referred to as Kerberos Armoring—have become increasingly reliant on machine accounts to boost security. The machine account adds entropy to the client's secret key, and both gMSA and dMSA service accounts now depend on machine accounts, granting them access to service accounts. However, this dependence on machine accounts introduced a security vulnerability, as machine accounts can be easily extracted from the registry and exploited to access highly protected service accounts.",[16,177,178],{},"The security of machine accounts is reinforced, ultimately strengthening the overall security of service accounts within Active Directory.",{"title":61,"searchDepth":180,"depth":180,"links":181},3,[182,184,185,189,190],{"id":13,"depth":183,"text":14},2,{"id":30,"depth":183,"text":31},{"id":51,"depth":183,"text":52,"children":186},[187,188],{"id":117,"depth":180,"text":118},{"id":127,"depth":180,"text":128},{"id":134,"depth":183,"text":135},{"id":168,"depth":183,"text":169},"windows","2025-01-15","Windows Server 2025 can move computer account passwords into Credential Guard. How to enable it by GPO, and why turning it off means a new domain join.",false,"md","\u002Fimages\u002Fposts\u002Fconfigure-credential-guard-computer-accounts\u002Fcover.webp",{},true,"\u002Fposts\u002Fconfigure-credential-guard-computer-accounts",{"title":5,"description":193},"posts\u002Fconfigure-credential-guard-computer-accounts","2",[204],"credential-guard","RrO-41KiBpUixMD4HVhvm3rDIDVup_llFgDtYunog_U",[207,220,231,243,251,258,267,275,281,289,296,306,313,321,328,334,336,342,348,356,368,375,383,389,396,402,408,415,421,427,433,439,446,452,458,466,473,480],{"path":208,"title":209,"description":210,"date":211,"category":212,"alsoIn":213,"series":6,"tags":214,"readingTime":219},"\u002Fposts\u002Fbarista","Barista: One Exe to Install Doppio and Ristretto","The 2FA series ends with two LSA components, an unsigned DLL in lsass and a dozen steps that have to happen in the right order. Barista is a wizard that does them one reboot at a time, from a single exe with every binary embedded and hash-checked.","2026-10-16","tools",[191],[191,215,216,217,218],"lsa","2fa","credential-provider","security",9,{"path":221,"title":222,"description":223,"date":224,"category":191,"alsoIn":225,"series":226,"tags":227,"readingTime":230},"\u002Fposts\u002Fwindows-2fa-gating-network-logons","Build Your Own 2FA for the Windows Logon, Part 3: Gating Network Logons","Part 2 refuses every network logon for an enrolled account, which makes the account safe and useless. Part 3 adds a gate you open once with a one-time code, so SMB, RPC and WinRM work again for a short window. In C++, with the full source.","2026-10-11",[212],"Doppio · 3-part series",[191,215,228,229,216,218],"ntlm","smb",35,{"path":232,"title":233,"description":234,"date":235,"category":212,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":236,"readingTime":242},"\u002Fposts\u002Fadhardenkit","ADHardenKit: Hardening AD Without Breaking It","LDAP signing, SMB signing, NTLM, Kerberos with AES only. Every hardening checklist has them. I wrote a tool that turns them on in an order that doesn't break the domain.","2026-10-07",[237,238,239,240,228,241],"active-directory","windows-server","powershell","hardening","kerberos",5,{"path":244,"title":245,"description":246,"date":247,"category":212,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":248,"readingTime":250},"\u002Fposts\u002Fntlm-analyzer","NTLM-Analyzer: Find Out Who Still Uses NTLM","Windows logs a lot of NTLM activity, but you have to piece it together yourself. I built a tool that shows which users and programs still use NTLMv1 or NTLMv2, and what already runs over Kerberos.","2026-10-03",[237,228,241,249,238],"auditing",6,{"path":252,"title":253,"description":254,"date":255,"category":191,"alsoIn":6,"series":226,"tags":256,"readingTime":257},"\u002Fposts\u002Fwindows-2fa-inside-lsa","Build Your Own 2FA for the Windows Logon, Part 2: Inside LSA","The credential provider from Part 1 only sees the logon screen. Part 2 goes into LSA to close the paths it can't reach, with an authentication package and an MSV1_0 sub-authentication filter in C++.","2026-10-01",[191,217,215,216,218],32,{"path":259,"title":260,"description":261,"date":262,"category":191,"alsoIn":263,"series":226,"tags":264,"readingTime":266},"\u002Fposts\u002Fwindows-2fa-credential-provider","Build Your Own 2FA for the Windows Logon","How a Credential Provider works and how to build a working TOTP 2FA for local Windows accounts in C++. With rate limiting, replay protection and logging.","2026-09-30",[212],[191,217,216,265,218],"totp",60,{"path":268,"title":269,"description":270,"date":271,"category":212,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":272,"readingTime":180},"\u002Fposts\u002Fadtierkit-active-directory-tiering","ADTierKit: Automatic AD-Tiering","I got tired of building tier models by hand, so I wrote a tool for it. One PowerShell script, one JSON file.","2026-08-06",[237,238,239,273,274],"tiering","laps",{"path":276,"title":277,"description":278,"date":271,"category":237,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":279,"readingTime":280},"\u002Fposts\u002Fldap-ldaps-and-active-directory","The thing with LDAP, LDAPS and Active Directory","Why LDAPS rarely fixes what security reports worry about, why you can't just block port 389, and what actually protects LDAP in Active Directory.",[],11,{"path":282,"title":283,"description":284,"date":285,"category":286,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":287,"readingTime":180},"\u002Fposts\u002Finstall-tor-exit-node","Install Tor Exit Node","How to run a Tor exit node on an anonymously rented VPS: paying with Monero, picking the provider and the country, and installing and configuring Tor.","2025-09-30","linux",[288],"tor",{"path":290,"title":291,"description":292,"date":293,"category":237,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":294,"readingTime":295},"\u002Fposts\u002Fconfigure-kerberos-armoring","Configure Kerberos Armoring","Kerberos Armoring (FAST) protects the Kerberos exchange against offline brute force, replay and tampering. How to enable it in your domain with a GPO.","2025-07-28",[241],1,{"path":297,"title":298,"description":299,"date":300,"category":301,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":302,"readingTime":305},"\u002Fposts\u002Fexchange-2019-install","Installation guide for Exchange SE and Exchange 2019","Install Exchange Server Subscription Edition (SE) or Exchange Server 2019 step by step and harden it, with WAF rules on the Sophos XG, SPF, DMARC, DKIM and more. The installation is the same for both versions.","2025-06-26","exchange",[301,303,304],"exchange-se","exchange-2019",47,{"path":307,"title":308,"description":309,"date":310,"category":237,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":311,"readingTime":219},"\u002Fposts\u002Fhow-ntlm-works-active-directory","How NTLM works in Active Directory","How NTLM proves that you know a password without sending it, what the domain controller does, the difference between NTLMv1 and NTLMv2, and why Microsoft is phasing it out.","2025-05-07",[228,237,312],"authentication",{"path":314,"title":315,"description":316,"date":317,"category":237,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":318,"readingTime":320},"\u002Fposts\u002Fadfs-installation","ADFS Installation","Basic installation guide for Active Directory Federation Services","2025-01-27",[319],"adfs",4,{"path":322,"title":323,"description":324,"date":325,"category":237,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":326,"readingTime":180},"\u002Fposts\u002Fexample-pass-the-hash-attack","Pass the Hash Attack Example","Example of a pass the hash attack","2025-01-22",[327],"pass-the-hash",{"path":329,"title":330,"description":331,"date":332,"category":237,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":333,"readingTime":250},"\u002Fposts\u002Fhow-kerberos-works-active-directory","How Kerberos works in Active Directory","How Kerberos works in Active Directory, step by step: the TGT, the service ticket and the request to the service, and why no password crosses the network.","2025-01-16",[241],{"path":199,"title":5,"description":193,"date":192,"category":191,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":335,"readingTime":180},[204],{"path":337,"title":338,"description":339,"date":340,"category":191,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":341,"readingTime":320},"\u002Fposts\u002Fconfigure-credential-guard-windows","Configure Credential Guard","How Credential Guard shields NTLM hashes and Kerberos tickets, how to enable it by GPO on older clients and servers, and how to check that it runs.","2025-01-13",[204],{"path":343,"title":344,"description":345,"date":340,"category":191,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":346,"readingTime":180},"\u002Fposts\u002Fosconfig-windows-server-2025-security","OSConfig - Security Settings for Windows Server 2025","OSConfig applies Microsoft's recommended security settings on Windows Server 2025 without GPOs. Install the module, list templates, enable a baseline.",[347],"osconfig",{"path":349,"title":350,"description":351,"date":352,"category":191,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":353,"readingTime":180},"\u002Fposts\u002Fsecure-iis-modsecurity","Secure IIS with Modsecurity","Installation guide to secure IIS with Modsecurity","2025-01-12",[354,355],"iis","modsecurity",{"path":357,"title":358,"description":359,"date":360,"category":237,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":361,"readingTime":367},"\u002Fposts\u002Fvcsa-certificate-windows-pki","Issue VCSA Certificate with Windows PKI","Replace the self-signed vCenter (VCSA) certificate with a SubCA certificate from your Windows PKI, using the VCSA Certificate Manager and WinSCP.","2025-01-09",[362,363,364,365,366],"ad-cs","pki","vmware","vcsa","vcenter",10,{"path":369,"title":370,"description":371,"date":372,"category":237,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":373,"readingTime":374},"\u002Fposts\u002Fwindows-pki-installation","Installation guide for a Windows PKI","Step-by-step guide for a two-tier Windows PKI with root CA, sub CA and a separate CRL server, plus certificate templates, OCSP and web enrollment.","2024-12-20",[362,363],36,{"path":376,"title":377,"description":378,"date":379,"category":380,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":381,"readingTime":367},"\u002Fposts\u002Fhack-the-box-administrator","Hack The Box: Administrator","Walkthrough for the \"Administrator\" Hack the Box Challenge","2024-11-19","hack-the-box",[382,191,237],"writeup",{"path":384,"title":385,"description":386,"date":387,"category":237,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":388,"readingTime":183},"\u002Fposts\u002Fsecure-active-directory-part-1","Secure Active Directory - Part 1","Part 1 of the guide to a secure Active Directory","2024-09-09",[],{"path":390,"title":391,"description":392,"date":393,"category":380,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":394,"readingTime":395},"\u002Fposts\u002Fhack-the-box-greenhorn","Hack The Box: Greenhorn","Walkthrough for the \"Greenhorn\" Hack the Box Challenge","2024-07-24",[382,286],12,{"path":397,"title":398,"description":399,"date":400,"category":380,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":401,"readingTime":219},"\u002Fposts\u002Fhack-the-box-runner","Hack The Box: Runner","Walkthrough for the \"Runner\" Hack the Box Challenge","2024-07-20",[382,286],{"path":403,"title":404,"description":405,"date":406,"category":380,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":407,"readingTime":295},"\u002Fposts\u002Fhack-the-box-ghost","Hack The Box: Ghost","Walkthrough for the \"Ghost\" Hack the Box Challenge","2024-07-18",[382,191,237],{"path":409,"title":410,"description":411,"date":412,"category":380,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":413,"readingTime":414},"\u002Fposts\u002Fhack-the-box-knife","Hack The Box: Knife","Walkthrough for the \"Knife\" Hack the Box Challenge","2024-07-15",[382,286],7,{"path":416,"title":417,"description":418,"date":419,"category":380,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":420,"readingTime":180},"\u002Fposts\u002Fhack-the-box-broker","Hack The Box: Broker","Walkthrough for the \"Broker\" Hack the Box Challenge","2024-07-10",[382,286],{"path":422,"title":423,"description":424,"date":425,"category":380,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":426,"readingTime":295},"\u002Fposts\u002Fhack-the-box-permx","Hack The Box: PermX","Walkthrough zur \"PermX\" Hack the Box Challenge","2024-07-08",[382,286],{"path":428,"title":429,"description":430,"date":431,"category":380,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":432,"readingTime":180},"\u002Fposts\u002Fhack-the-box-lame","Hack The Box: Lame","Walkthrough zur \"Lame\" Hack the Box Challenge","2024-07-06",[382,286],{"path":434,"title":435,"description":436,"date":437,"category":380,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":438,"readingTime":320},"\u002Fposts\u002Fhack-the-box-analytics","Hack The Box: Analytics","Walkthrough zur \"Analytics\" Hack the Box Challenge","2024-06-30",[382,286],{"path":440,"title":441,"description":442,"date":443,"category":380,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":444,"readingTime":242},"\u002Fposts\u002Fhack-the-box-sense","Hack The Box: Sense","Walkthrough zur \"Sense\" Hack the Box Challenge","2024-06-28",[382,445],"freebsd",{"path":447,"title":448,"description":449,"date":450,"category":380,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":451,"readingTime":280},"\u002Fposts\u002Fhack-the-box-mailing","Hack The Box: Mailing","Walkthrough zur \"Mailing\" Hack the Box Challenge","2024-06-26",[382,191],{"path":453,"title":454,"description":455,"date":456,"category":380,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":457,"readingTime":180},"\u002Fposts\u002Fhack-the-box-jerry","Hack The Box: Jerry","Walkthrough zur \"Jerry\" Hack the Box Challenge","2024-06-20",[382,191],{"path":459,"title":460,"description":461,"date":462,"category":286,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":463,"readingTime":295},"\u002Fposts\u002Flinux-ssh-telegram-notifications","Setting up notifications via Telegram for SSH login\u002Flogoff","Get a Telegram message every time someone logs in to or out of your Linux server over SSH, with a Telegram bot, a small script and PAM.","2024-06-01",[464,465],"ssh","monitoring",{"path":467,"title":468,"description":469,"date":470,"category":380,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":471,"readingTime":472},"\u002Fposts\u002Fhack-the-box-forest","Hack The Box: Forest","Walkthrough zur \"Forest\" Hack the Box Challenge","2024-05-20",[382,191,237],16,{"path":474,"title":475,"description":476,"date":477,"category":301,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":478,"readingTime":295},"\u002Fposts\u002Fpowershell-connect-to-exchange-online","Verbindung zu Exchange Online mit Powershell","Wie man sich mit PowerShell mit Exchange Online verbindet: das Modul ExchangeOnlineManagement installieren, aktuell halten und die Verbindung herstellen.","2023-10-23",[479,239],"m365",{"path":481,"title":482,"description":483,"date":484,"category":301,"alsoIn":6,"series":6,"tags":485,"readingTime":295},"\u002Fposts\u002Fexchange-october-2023-updates","Exchange Server","Neue Sicherheitsupdates (Oktober 2023)","2023-10-18",[],1792195054296]