Group Policies must be refreshed in the background if the user is logged on.

From Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 Domain Controller Security Technical Implementation Guide

Part of Group Policy - Do Not Turn off Background Refresh

Associated with: CCI-000366

SV-52906r1_rule Group Policies must be refreshed in the background if the user is logged on.

Vulnerability discussion

If this setting is enabled, then Group Policy settings are not refreshed while a user is currently logged on. This could lead to instances when a user does not have the latest changes to a policy applied and is therefore operating in an insecure context.

Check content

Review the registry. If the following registry value does not exist, this is not a finding (this is the expected result from configuring the policy as outlined in the Fix section.): If the following registry value exists but is not configured as specified, this is a finding: Registry Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Registry Path: \Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\system\ Value Name: DisableBkGndGroupPolicy Type: REG_DWORD Value: 0

Fix text

Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Group Policy -> "Turn off background refresh of Group Policy" to "Disabled".

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