This policy setting determines whether a user can log on to a Windows domain using cached account information. Logon information for domain accounts can be cached locally to allow users to log on even if a domain controller cannot be contacted. This policy setting determines the number of unique users for whom logon information is cached locally. If this value is set to 0, the logon cache feature is disabled. An attacker who is able to access the file system of the server could locate this cached information and use a brute force attack to determine user passwords. Each unique user's logon information is cached locally so that, in the event that a domain controller is unavailable during subsequent logon attempts, they are able to log on. The cached logon information is stored from the previous logon session. If a domain controller is unavailable and a user's logon information is not cached, the user is prompted with this message: There are currently no logon servers available to service the logon request. In this policy setting, a value of 0 disables logon caching. Any value above 50 only caches 50 logon attempts. Windows supports a maximum of 50 cache entries and the number of entries consumed per user depends on the credential. For example, a maximum of 50 unique password user accounts can be cached on a Windows system, but only 25 smart card user accounts can be cached because both the password information and the smart card information are stored. When a user with cached logon information logs on again, the user's individual cached information is replaced. Default: Windows Server 2008: 25 All Other Versions: 10 Countermeasure: Configure the Interactive logon: Number of previous logons to cache (in case domain controller is not available) setting to 0, which disables the local caching of logon information. Additional countermeasures include enforcement of strong password policies and physically secure locations for the computers. Potential Impact: Users will be unable to log on to any computers if there is no domain controller available to authenticate them. Organizations may want to configure this value to 2 for end-user computers, especially for mobile users. A configuration value of 2 means that the user's logon information will still be in the cache, even if a member of the IT department has recently logged on to their computer to perform system maintenance. This method allows users to log on to their computers when they are not connected to the organization's network. Fix: (1) GPO: Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options\Interactive logon: Number of previous logons to cache (in case domain controller is not available) (2) REG: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon!cachedlogonscount [max logons] (1) GPO: Computer Configuration\\Windows Settings\\Security Settings\\Local Policies\\Security Options\\Interactive logon: Number of previous logons to cache (in case domain controller is not available) (2) REG: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon!cachedlogonscount oval:org.secpod.oval:def:54604 SCAP Repo OVAL Definition 2019-05-13