Re: Group Policy Connundrum - Stick with it, its confusing!!!

[Ian Smith <ian () rabweb com>]

Jon,

Have you enabled loopback processing mode?

Computer Configuration
* Administrative Templates
* System 
* Group Policy 
* User Group Policy loopback processing mode

This has often given me grief.  If you are assigning a GPO to an OU holding
computer objects and that GPO has User Configurations set then you need to
enable loopback processing mode.

I¹d say the typical choice should be: Merge.  This will take any GPO ­ User
Configuration settings that are applied to the user object and merge them
with those applied through the GPO applied against a computer object which a
user is logging into.

Alternatively, instead of setting loopback processing, you could place the
user object and the computer object into the same OU and have your No
Internet GPO applied there.  But if that doesn¹t work because you have other
policies applied to the user OU¹s then loopback processing is the way to go.

Hope that helps,
Ian


From: Jon Petre <jono-31 () hotmail co uk>
Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 12:41:43 -0400
To: <roger () banneretcs com>
Cc: <security-basics () securityfocus com>
Conversation: Group Policy Connundrum - Stick with it, its confusing!!!
Subject: RE: Group Policy Connundrum - Stick with it, its confusing!!!
Resent-From: <security-basics-return-46064 () securityfocus com>
Resent-Date: Tue,  2 Oct 2007 10:35:28 -0600 (MDT)

Hi Roger,

OK. I have ran a couple of the test's that you recommended and would really
appreciate your input:

This is the output from gpresult on the local workstation - I have omitted
the computer policies and just included the user policies.

CN=D*****,OU=SBSUsers,OU=Users,OU=MyBusiness,DC=P*******Ltd,DC=local
    Last time Group Policy was applied: 02/10/2007 at 10:36:05
    Group Policy was applied from:      dcserver.**********.local
    Group Policy slow link threshold:   500 kbps

    Applied Group Policy Objects
    -----------------------------
        Default Domain Policy
        No Internet

    The following GPOs were not applied because they were filtered out
    -------------------------------------------------------------------
        Small Business Server Internet Connection Firewall
            Filtering:  Denied (WMI Filter)
            WMI Filter: PreSP2

        Small Business Server Windows Firewall
            Filtering:  Not Applied (Empty)

        Small Business Server Client Computer
            Filtering:  Not Applied (Empty)

        Small Business Server Domain Password Policy
            Filtering:  Not Applied (Empty)

        Small Business Server Lockout Policy
            Filtering:  Disabled (GPO)

        Small Business Server Remote Assistance Policy
            Filtering:  Disabled (GPO)

        Local Group Policy
            Filtering:  Not Applied (Empty)

    The user is a part of the following security groups:
    ----------------------------------------------------
        Domain Users
        Everyone
        BUILTIN\Users
        NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE
        NT AUTHORITY\Authenticated Users
        LOCAL
        No Internet
        SageMMS
        Terminal Services Users
        Branch Users
        Web Workplace Users

    Resultant Set Of Policies for User:
    ------------------------------------

        Software Installations
        ----------------------
            N/A

        Public Key Policies
        -------------------
            N/A

        Administrative Templates
        ------------------------
            GPO: No Internet
                Setting: Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\Control Panel
                State:   Enabled

        Folder Redirection
        ------------------
            N/A

        Internet Explorer Browser User Interface
        ----------------------------------------
            GPO: No Internet
                Large Animated Bitmap Name:      N/A
                Large Custom Logo Bitmap Name:   N/A
                Title BarText:                   P****** Ltd
                UserAgent Text:                  N/A
                Delete existing toolbar buttons: No

        Internet Explorer Connection
        ----------------------------
            HTTP Proxy Server:   0.0.0.0:80
            Secure Proxy Server: 0.0.0.0:80
            FTP Proxy Server:    0.0.0.0:80
            Gopher Proxy Server: 0.0.0.0:80
            Socks Proxy Server:  0.0.0.0:80
            Auto Config Enable:  No
            Enable Proxy:        Yes
            Use same Proxy:      Yes

        Internet Explorer URLs
        ----------------------
            GPO: No Internet
                Home page URL:           N/A
                Search page URL:         N/A
                Online support page URL: N/A

        Internet Explorer Security
        --------------------------
            Always Viewable Sites:     N/A
            Password Override Enabled: False

            GPO: No Internet
                Import the current Content Ratings Settings:      No
                Import the current Security Zones Settings:       No
                Import current Authenticode Security Information: No
                Enable trusted publisher lockdown:                No

        Internet Explorer Programs
        --------------------------
            GPO: No Internet
                Import the current Program Settings: No

> From this I can see the policy that applies the false proxy but I can not
see my exceptions that are in place!! This is rather confusing for me.

After further investigation I believe I am right in saying that GP's are
applied to OU's and not security groups. If this is the case, then the AD
infrastructure that I am working on is setup incorrectly. All the users are
placed in one OU. After carrying out an RSOP on the OU, and then drilling
down, I find that no proxy settings are been enabled!! As you can probably
see, I am actually quite confused now.

Can you shed further light on this confusing matter. If you require further
info, I will be most happy to oblige.

Thanks

Jon





> From: "Roger A. Grimes" <roger () banneretcs com>
> To: "Jon Petre" <jono-31 () hotmail co uk>,<security-basics () securityfocus com>
> Subject: RE: Group Policy Connundrum - Stick with it, its confusing!!!
> Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:07:01 -0400
>
> Jon,
>
> There are lots of ways to troubleshot.
>
> Try running an rsop.msc on the workstation and look at the relevant
> results.
>
> Or you can run gpresult.exe /v >gpresult.txt && gpresult.txt and look at
> it in a text file.
>
> Are the correct settings being pushed down? If so, then it might be a
> GPO application problem. You can turn on group policy logging and see
> what is not being applied, and why.
>
> If rsop.msc and gpresult show the correct settings, are the correct
> registry edits being made under HKCU\Software\Policies?
>
> I'll help you troubleshoot.
>
> Roger
>
> *******************************************************************
> *Roger A. Grimes, Senior Security Consultant
> *Microsoft Application Consulting and Engineering (ACE) Services
> *http://blogs.msdn.com/ace_team/default.aspx
> *CPA, CISSP, CISA MCSE: Security (2000/2003), CEH, yada...yada...
> *email: roger () banneretcs com or rogrim () microsoft com
> *Author of Windows Vista Security: Security Vista Against Malicious
> Attacks (Wiley)
> *http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Vista-Security-Securing-Malicious/dp/0470
> 101555
> *******************************************************************
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: listbounce () securityfocus com [mailto:listbounce () securityfocus com]
> On Behalf Of Jon Petre
> Sent: Friday, September 28, 2007 5:09 AM
> To: security-basics () securityfocus com
> Subject: Group Policy Connundrum - Stick with it, its confusing!!!
>
> Hello List,
>
> I have an issue at a customers site regarding GP that goes a little like
> this:
>
> I have created a policy named no internet. I have created a security
> group named the same. In this group are so many users based across the
> country that I want to limit the internet usage, therefore I have
> created a false proxy @ 0.0.0.0 that all their internet use has to pass
> through. This gives the expected result where no pages are displayed
> regardless of which site the user goes to. I have also created some
> exceptions for this policy, which do not use the proxy, i.e.
>
> www.homepageofcompany.com, www.siteiwanttoallow.com,
> www.theusercangohere.co.uk.
>
> This is done by setting the 'user configuration > Internet Explorer >
> Connection > Proxy Settings > Exceptions'. The desired output is that
> user's logon and can access these sites, but any other non specified
> site wont work.
>
> ----I hope this makes sense so far----
>
> Then by setting the 'Admin Template > Windows Components > Internet
> Explorer  > Disable Changing Proxy Settings' to enabled effectively
> grays out the proxy settings in internet explorer and stops the user
> from altering the settings.
>
> OK, this is where the issues start. When I toggle the 'Admin Template >
> Windows Components > Internet Explorer > Disable Changing Proxy
> Settings'
> between enable and disable, and update the policy on the local machine
> via GPUPDATE, or even from the server by forcing the update, everything
> works and the proxy is enabled and disabled as specified.
>
> However, when I try to make changes to  any part of the user config, the
> policy does not seem to initialise. What I mean is any sites I add to
> the exception list do not appear and the end result is the user can not
> access any sites at all. I have logged on and off, and re-booted
> workstation all to no effect.
>
> Any suggestions on why the user configuration portion of the Group
> Policy does not work would be much appreciated. I am sure all the
> permissions are set correctly, i.e. the apply GP settings, read settings
> etc. If they wasn't, then surely no part of the policy would work, would
> it?
>
> TIA,
>
> Jono
>
> _________________________________________________________________
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