Local Admin Password Solution is deployed

Maester checks this too

CIS.M365.5.1.4.5 (Ensure Local Administrator Password Solution is enabled) checks the same setting. Running both reports it twice.

Overview

Without Local Admin Password Solution (LAPS) deployed, threat actors exploit static local administrator passwords to establish initial access. After threat actors compromise a single device with a shared local administrator credential, they can move laterally across the environment and authenticate to other systems sharing the same password. Compromised local administrator access gives threat actors system-level privileges, which lets them accomplish a wide range of malicious activities, including:

• Disable security controls
• Install persistent backdoors
• Exfiltrate sensitive data
• Establish command and control channels

The automated password rotation and centralized management of LAPS closes this security gap and adds controls to help manage who has access to these critical accounts. Without solutions like LAPS, you can’t detect or respond to unauthorized use of local administrator accounts, giving threat actors extended dwell time to achieve their objectives while remaining undetected.

Remediation

• Configure Windows Local Administrator Password Solution.

Run it

The check runs as part of the whole assessment, with the ZeroTrustAssessment module installed:

Install-Module ZeroTrustAssessment -Scope CurrentUser
Connect-Maester
Invoke-Maester -Pack ZTA -SkipBuiltIn

Leave out -SkipBuiltIn to run Maester’s own checks in the same run.

About this check

Severity	Low
Effort to fix	Low
Impact on users	Low
Pillar	Identity
Category	Access control
Product	Entra ID
Feature	Device identity
Area	Privileged access
ATT&CK	T1078.003 Local Accounts, T1021 Remote Services
Licence	P1
Tenant	Workforce, External

Product, feature, area and ATT&CK are Maester’s: the assessment does not record them, so Maester keeps them in the pack’s taxonomy.json.

A Microsoft check, part of the Zero Trust Assessment pack. Text from ZeroTrustAssessment 3.1.0, © Microsoft, MIT licence.