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Local Accounts
In this articleThis reference article for IT professionals describes the default local user accounts for servers, including how to manage these built-in accounts on a member or standalone server. About local user accountsLocal user accounts are stored locally on the server. These accounts can be assigned rights and permissions on a particular server, but on that server only. Local user accounts are security principals that are used to secure and manage access to the resources on a standalone or member server for services or users. This article describes the following:
For information about security principals, see Security Principals. Default local user accountsThe default local user accounts are built-in accounts that are created automatically when you install Windows. After Windows is installed, the default local user accounts can't be removed or deleted. In addition, default local user accounts don't provide access to network resources. Default local user accounts are used to manage access to the local server’s resources based on the rights and permissions that are assigned to the account. The default local user accounts, and the local user accounts that you create, are located in the Users folder. The Users folder is located in the Local Users and Groups folder in the local Computer Management Microsoft Management Console (MMC). Computer Management is a collection of administrative tools that you can use to manage a single local or remote computer. For more information, see How to manage local accounts later in this article. Default local user accounts are described in the following sections. Administrator accountThe default local Administrator account is a user account for the system administrator. Every computer has an Administrator account (SID S-1-5-domain-500, display name Administrator). The Administrator account is the first account that is created during the Windows installation. The Administrator account has full control of the files, directories, services, and other resources on the local computer. The Administrator account can create other local users, assign user rights, and assign permissions. The Administrator account can take control of local resources at any time simply by changing the user rights and permissions. The default Administrator account can't be deleted or locked out, but it can be renamed or disabled. From Windows 10, Windows 11 and Windows Server 2016, Windows setup disables the built-in Administrator account and creates another local account that is a member of the Administrators group. Members of the Administrators groups can run apps with elevated permissions without using the Run as Administrator option. Fast User Switching is more secure than using Runas or different-user elevation. Account group membership By default, the Administrator account is installed as a member of the Administrators group on the server. It's a best practice to limit the number of users in the Administrators group because members of the Administrators group on a local server have Full Control permissions on that computer. The Administrator account can't be deleted or removed from the Administrators group, but it can be renamed. Security considerations Because the Administrator account is known to exist on many versions of the Windows operating system, it's a best practice to disable the Administrator account when possible to make it more difficult for malicious users to gain access to the server or client computer. You can rename the Administrator account. However, a renamed Administrator account continues to use the same automatically assigned security identifier (SID), which can be discovered by malicious users. For more information about how to rename or disable a user account, see Disable or activate a local user account and Rename a local user account. As a security best practice, use your local (non-Administrator) account to sign in and then use Run as administrator to accomplish tasks that require a higher level of rights than a standard user account. Don't use the Administrator account to sign in to your computer unless it's entirely necessary. For more information, see Run a program with administrative credentials. In comparison, on the Windows client operating system, a user with a local user account that has Administrator rights is considered the system administrator of the client computer. The first local user account that is created during installation is placed in the local Administrators group. However, when multiple users run as local administrators, the IT staff has no control over these users or their client computers. In this case, Group Policy can be used to enable secure settings that can control the use of the local Administrators group automatically on every server or client computer. For more information about Group Policy, see Group Policy Overview. Important
Guest accountThe Guest account is disabled by default on installation. The Guest account lets occasional or one-time users, who don't have an account on the computer, temporarily sign in to the local server or client computer with limited user rights. By default, the Guest account has a blank password. Because the Guest account can provide anonymous access, it's a security risk. For this reason, it's a best practice to leave the Guest account disabled, unless its use is entirely necessary. Account group membership By default, the Guest account is the only member of the default Guests group (SID S-1-5-32-546), which lets a user sign in to a server. On occasion, an administrator who is a member of the Administrators group can set up a user with a Guest account on one or more computers. Security considerations When enabling the Guest account, only grant limited rights and permissions. For security reasons, the Guest account shouldn't be used over the network and made accessible to other computers. In addition, the guest user in the Guest account shouldn't be able to view the event logs. After the Guest account is enabled, it's a best practice to monitor the Guest account frequently to ensure that other users can't use services and other resources. This includes resources that were unintentionally left available by a previous user. HelpAssistant account (installed with a Remote Assistance session)The HelpAssistant account is a default local account that is enabled when a Remote Assistance session is run. This account is automatically disabled when no Remote Assistance requests are pending. HelpAssistant is the primary account that is used to establish a Remote Assistance session. The Remote Assistance session is used to connect to another computer running the Windows operating system, and it's initiated by invitation. For solicited remote assistance, a user sends an invitation from their computer, through e-mail or as a file, to a person who can provide assistance. After the user's invitation for a Remote Assistance session is accepted, the default HelpAssistant account is automatically created to give the person who provides assistance limited access to the computer. The HelpAssistant account is managed by the Remote Desktop Help Session Manager service. Security considerations The SIDs that pertain to the default HelpAssistant account include:
For the Windows Server operating system, Remote Assistance is an optional component that isn't installed by default. You must install Remote Assistance before it can be used. For details about the HelpAssistant account attributes, see the following table. HelpAssistant account attributes
DefaultAccountThe DefaultAccount, also known as the Default System Managed Account (DSMA), is a built-in account introduced in Windows 10 version 1607 and Windows Server 2016. The DSMA is a well-known user account type. It's a user neutral account that can be used to run processes that are either multi-user aware or user-agnostic. The DSMA is disabled by default on the desktop SKUs (full windows SKUs) and WS 2016 with the Desktop. The DSMA has a well-known RID of 503. The security identifier (SID) of the DSMA will thus have a well-known SID in the following format: S-1-5-21-<ComputerIdentifier>-503 The DSMA is a member of the well-known group System Managed Accounts Group, which has a well-known SID of S-1-5-32-581. The DSMA alias can be granted access to resources during offline staging even before the account itself has been created. The account and the group are created during first boot of the machine within the Security Accounts Manager (SAM). How Windows uses the DefaultAccountFrom a permission perspective, the DefaultAccount is a standard user account. The DefaultAccount is needed to run multi-user-manifested-apps (MUMA apps). MUMA apps run all the time and react to users signing in and signing out of the devices. Unlike Windows Desktop where apps run in context of the user and get terminated when the user signs off, MUMA apps run by using the DSMA. MUMA apps are functional in shared session SKUs such as Xbox. For example, Xbox shell is a MUMA app. Today, Xbox automatically signs in as Guest account and all apps run in this context. All the apps are multi-user-aware and respond to events fired by user manager. The apps run as the Guest account. Similarly, Phone auto logs in as a “DefApps” account, which is akin to the standard user account in Windows but with a few extra privileges. Brokers, some services and apps run as this account. In the converged user model, the multi-user-aware apps and multi-user-aware brokers will need to run in a context different from that of the users. For this purpose, the system creates DSMA. How the DefaultAccount gets created on domain controllersIf the domain was created with domain controllers running Windows Server 2016, the DefaultAccount will exist on all domain controllers in the domain. If the domain was created with domain controllers running an earlier version of Windows Server, the DefaultAccount will be created after the PDC Emulator role is transferred to a domain controller that runs Windows Server 2016. The DefaultAccount will then be replicated to all other domain controllers in the domain. Recommendations for managing the Default Account (DSMA)Microsoft doesn't recommend changing the default configuration, where the account is disabled. There's no security risk with having the account in the disabled state. Changing the default configuration could hinder future scenarios that rely on this account. Default local system accountsSYSTEMThe SYSTEM account is used by the operating system and by services running under Windows. There are many services and processes in the Windows operating system that need the capability to sign in internally, such as during a Windows installation. The SYSTEM account was designed for that purpose, and Windows manages the SYSTEM account’s user rights. It's an internal account that doesn't show up in User Manager, and it can't be added to any groups. On the other hand, the SYSTEM account does appear on an NTFS file system volume in File Manager in the Permissions portion of the Security menu. By default, the SYSTEM account is granted Full Control permissions to all files on an NTFS volume. Here the SYSTEM account has the same functional rights and permissions as the Administrator account. Note To grant the account Administrators group file permissions does not implicitly give permission to the SYSTEM account. The SYSTEM account's permissions can be removed from a file, but we do not recommend removing them. NETWORK SERVICEThe NETWORK SERVICE account is a predefined local account used by the service control manager (SCM). A service that runs in the context of the NETWORK SERVICE account presents the computer's credentials to remote servers. For more information, see NetworkService Account. LOCAL SERVICEThe LOCAL SERVICE account is a predefined local account used by the service control manager. It has minimum privileges on the local computer and presents anonymous credentials on the network. For more information, see LocalService Account. How to manage local user accountsThe default local user accounts, and the local user accounts you create, are located in the Users folder. The Users folder is located in Local Users and Groups. For more information about creating and managing local user accounts, see Manage Local Users. You can use Local Users and Groups to assign rights and permissions on only the local server to limit the ability of local users and groups to perform certain actions. A right authorizes a user to perform certain actions on a server, such as backing up files and folders or shutting down a server. An access permission is a rule that is associated with an object, usually a file, folder, or printer. It regulates which users can have access to an object on the server and in what manner. You can't use Local Users and Groups on a domain controller. However, you can use Local Users and Groups on a domain controller to target remote computers that aren't domain controllers on the network. Note You use Active Directory Users and Computers to manage users and groups in Active Directory. You can also manage local users by using NET.EXE USER and manage local groups by using NET.EXE LOCALGROUP, or by using various PowerShell cmdlets and other scripting technologies. Restrict and protect local accounts with administrative rightsAn administrator can use many approaches to prevent malicious users from using stolen credentials such as a stolen password or password hash, for a local account on one computer from being used to authenticate on another computer with administrative rights. This is also called "lateral movement". The simplest approach is to sign in to your computer with a standard user account, instead of using the Administrator account for tasks. For example, use a standard account to browse the Internet, send email, or use a word processor. When you want to perform administrative tasks such as installing a new program or changing a setting that affects other users, you don't have to switch to an Administrator account. You can use User Account Control (UAC) to prompt you for permission or an administrator password before performing the task, as described in the next section. The other approaches that can be used to restrict and protect user accounts with administrative rights include:
Each of these approaches is described in the following sections. Note These approaches do not apply if all administrative local accounts are disabled. Enforce local account restrictions for remote accessThe User Account Control (UAC) is a security feature in Windows that has been in use in Windows Server 2008 and in Windows Vista, and the operating systems to which the Applies To list refers. UAC enables you to stay in control of your computer by informing you when a program makes a change that requires administrator-level permission. UAC works by adjusting the permission level of your user account. By default, UAC is set to notify you when applications try to make changes to your computer, but you can change how often UAC notifies you. UAC makes it possible for an account with administrative rights to be treated as a standard user non-administrator account until full rights, also called elevation, is requested and approved. For example, UAC lets an administrator enter credentials during a non-administrator's user session to perform occasional administrative tasks without having to switch users, sign out, or use the Run as command. In addition, UAC can require administrators to specifically approve applications that make system-wide changes before those applications are granted permission to run, even in the administrator's user session. For example, a default feature of UAC is shown when a local account signs in from a remote computer by using Network logon (for example, by using NET.EXE USE). In this instance, it's issued a standard user token with no administrative rights, but without the ability to request or receive elevation. Consequently, local accounts that sign in by using Network logon can't access administrative shares such as C$, or ADMIN$, or perform any remote administration. For more information about UAC, see User Account Control. The following table shows the Group Policy and registry settings that are used to enforce local account restrictions for remote access.
Note You can also enforce the default for LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy by using the custom ADMX in Security Templates. To enforce local account restrictions for remote access
Deny network logon to all local Administrator accountsDenying local accounts the ability to perform network logons can help prevent a local account password hash from being reused in a malicious attack. This procedure helps to prevent lateral movement by ensuring that stolen credentials for local accounts from a compromised operating system can't be used to compromise other computers that use the same credentials. Note To perform this procedure, you must first identify the name of the local, default Administrator account, which might not be the default user name "Administrator", and any other accounts that are members of the local Administrators group. The following table shows the Group Policy settings that are used to deny network logon for all local Administrator accounts.
To deny network logon to all local administrator accounts
Create unique passwords for local accounts with administrative rightsPasswords should be unique per individual account. While it's true for individual user accounts, many enterprises have identical passwords for common local accounts, such as the default Administrator account. This also occurs when the same passwords are used for local accounts during operating system deployments. Passwords that are left unchanged or changed synchronously to keep them identical add a significant risk for organizations. Randomizing the passwords mitigates "pass-the-hash" attacks by using different passwords for local accounts, which hamper the ability of malicious users to use password hashes of those accounts to compromise other computers. Passwords can be randomized by:
See alsoThe following resources provide additional information about technologies that are related to local accounts.
FeedbackSubmit and view feedback for Which of the following account lockout policy settings determines the number of failed login attempts?The Account lockout threshold policy setting determines the number of failed sign-in attempts that will cause a user account to be locked.
Which of the following is an authentication credential used to access multiple accounts or applications?Single sign-on (SSO) is a session and user authentication service that permits a user to use one set of login credentials -- for example, a name and password -- to access multiple applications.
Which of the following accounts is a user account that is created explicitly to provide a security context for services running on a server?A service account is a user account that's created explicitly to provide a security context for services that are running on Windows Server operating systems. The security context determines the service's ability to access local and network resources.
What is the main weakness associated with the use of passwords?Passwords aren't user friendly
This makes them hard to remember. And if people can't remember them, they write them down or use the same password on multiple websites…which makes them less secure.
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