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Version: 2.2.1-preview

AD-CFG-04 - Optional features count should be retrievable

Michael SouleMerill Fernando
Contributed by Michael Soule with Merill FernandoAll contributors →

Overview​

Active Directory optional features (and related feature flags) enable or enhance behaviors such as recoverability and directory management capabilities. Incorrectly enabled/disabled features can materially affect your security posture by:

  • Reducing your ability to recover from accidental or malicious deletion
  • Leaving legacy behaviors in place longer than necessary
  • Causing operational drift that attackers can exploit via misconfiguration

In particular, features that improve recovery (such as those related to the Recycle Bin) directly impact resilience during incidents.

Security Recommendation​

  • Ensure critical recoverability features (notably Recycle Bin) are enabled for the partitions that contain important identity data.
  • Treat optional feature changes as security configuration changes: use a change control process, test first, and validate after enabling/disabling.
  • Keep optional feature configuration consistent across domains/partitions where required.

How the Test Works​

This test retrieves the set of enabled AD optional feature flags and reports them as a count/visibility metric so administrators can confirm whether the expected security-enhancing features are active.

  • Test-MtAdRecycleBinEnabledPaths - Shows where Recycle Bin is enabled.
  • Test-MtAdRecycleBinStatus - Validates the Recycle Bin state.

Test Metadata​

FieldValue
Test IDAD-CFG-04
SeverityInfo
SuiteActive Directory
CategoryAD.Config
PowerShell testTest-MtAdOptionalFeaturesCount
TagsAD, AD-CFG-04, AD.Config

Source​

  • Pester test: tests/ad/config/Test-MtAdOptionalFeaturesCount.Tests.ps1
  • PowerShell source: powershell/public/ad/config/Test-MtAdOptionalFeaturesCount.ps1