STIG ID: WN22-SO-000020 | SRG: SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227 | Severity: high | CCI: | Vulnerability Id: V-254446
An account without a password can allow unauthorized access to a system as only the username would be required. Password policies must prevent accounts with blank passwords from existing on a system. However, if a local account with a blank password does exist, enabling this setting will prevent network access, limiting the account to local console logon only.
Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Windows Settings >> Security Settings >> Local Policies >> Security Options >> Accounts: Limit local account use of blank passwords to console logon only to "Enabled".
If the following registry value does not exist or is not configured as specified, this is a finding:
Registry Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Registry Path: \SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\
Value Name: LimitBlankPasswordUse
Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0x00000001 (1)