How To Create A Service Account

Create a Dedicated Service Account for the User-ID Agent

To use the Windows-based User-ID agent or the PAN-OS integrated User-ID agent to map users as they log in to your Exchange servers, domain controllers, eDirectory servers, or Windows clients, create a dedicated service account for the User-ID agent on a domain controller in each domain that the agent will monitor.

Logon Success (4624)

Authentication Ticket Granted (4768)

Service Ticket Granted (4769)

Ticket Granted Renewed (4770)

The required permissions for the service account depend on the user mapping methods and settings you plan to use. For example, if you are using the PAN-OS integrated User-ID agent, the service account requires Server Operator privileges to monitor user sessions. If you are using the Windows-based User-ID agent, the service account does not require Server Operator privileges to monitor user sessions. To reduce the risk of compromising the User-ID service account, always configure the account with the minimum set of permissions necessary for the agent.

If you are installing the Windows-based User-ID agent on a supported Windows server, Configure a Service Account for the Windows User-ID Agent.

If you are using the PAN-OS integrated User-ID agent on the firewall, Configure a Service Account for the PAN-OS Integrated User-ID Agent.

User-ID provides many methods for safely collecting user mapping information. Some legacy features designed for environments that only required user mapping on Windows desktops attached to the local network require privileged service accounts. If the privileged service account is compromised, this would open your network to attack. As a best practice, avoid using legacy features that require privileges that would pose a threat if compromised, such as client probing, NTLM authentication, and session monitoring.

Configure a Service Account for the Windows User-ID Agent

Create a dedicated Active Directory service account for the Windows User-ID agent to access the services and hosts it will monitor to collect user mappings. You must create a service account in each domain the agent will monitor. After you enable the required permissions for the service account, Configure User Mapping Using the Windows User-ID Agent.

The following workflow details all required privileges and provides guidance for the User-ID features which require privileges that could pose a threat so that you can decide how to best identify users without compromising your overall security posture.

Create an AD account for the User-ID agent.

You must create a service account in each domain the agent will monitor.

Right-click the Windows icon ( ),

for

Active Directory Users and Computers

, and launch the application.

In the navigation pane, open the domain tree, right-click

Managed Service Accounts

and select .

Enter the

First Name

Last Name

, and

User logon name

of the user and click

Enter the

Password

and

Confirm Password

, then click

and

Finish

Configure either local or group policy to allow the service account to log on as a service.

The permission to log on as a service is only needed locally on the Windows server that is the agent host.

To assign permissions locally:

Add User or Group

to add the service account.

Enter the object names to select

(the service account name) in

domain\username

format and click

To configure group policy if you are installing Windows User-ID agents on multiple servers, use the Group Policy Management Editor.

Select for the Windows server that is the agent host.

Right-click

Log on as a service

, then select

Properties

Add User or Group

to add the service account username or builtin group, then click

twice.

Administrators have this privilege by default.

If you want to use server monitoring to identify users, add the service account to the Event Log Reader builtin group to allow the service account to read the security log events.

On the domain controller or Exchange server that contains the logs you want the User-ID agent to read, or on the member server that receives events from Windows log forwarding, select , enter

MMC

, and select , then click

to run the MMC and launch the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in.

Navigate to the Builtin folder for the domain, right-click the

Event Log Readers

group, and select .

Add

the service account then click

Check Names

to validate that you have the proper object name.

Click

twice to save the settings.

Confirm that the builtin Event Log Reader group lists the service account as a member.

Assign account permissions to the installation folder to allow the service account to access the agent's installation folder to read the configuration and write logs.

You only need to perform this step if the service account you configured for the User-ID agent is not either a domain administrator or a local administrator on the User-ID agent server host.

From the Windows Explorer, navigate to

C:\Program Files(x86)\Palo Alto Networks

, right-click the folder, and select

Properties

On the

Security

tab, click

Edit

Add

the User-ID agent service account and

Allow

permissions to

Modify

Read & execute

List folder contents

Read

, and

Write

, and then click

to save the account settings.

If you do not want to configure individual permissions, you can

Allow

the

Full Control

permission instead.

To allow the agent to make configuration changes (for example, if you select a different logging level), give the service account permissions to the User-ID agent registry sub-tree.

Select and enter

regedt32

and navigate to the Palo Alto Networks sub-tree in one of the following locations:

32-bit systems

—

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Palo Alto Networks

64-bit systems

—

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\WOW6432Node\PaloAlto Networks

Right-click the

Palo Alto Networks

node and select

Permissions

Assign the User-ID service account

Full Control

and then click

to save the setting.

Disable service account privileges that are not required.

By ensuring that the User-ID service account has the minimum set of account privileges, you can reduce the attack surface should the account be compromised.

To ensure that the User-ID account has the minimum privileges necessary, deny the following privileges on the account.

Deny interactive logon for the User-ID service account

—While the User-ID service account does need permission to read and parse Active Directory security event logs, it does not require the ability to logon to servers or domain systems interactively. You can restrict this privilege using Group Policies or by using a Managed Service account (refer to Microsoft TechNet for more information).

For

Deny log on as a batch job

Deny log on locally

, and

Deny log on through Remote Desktop Services

, right-click

Properties

Select and add the service account name, then click

Deny remote access for the User-ID service account

—This prevents an attacker from using the account to access your network from the outside the network.

Select , enter

MMC

, and select .

Right-click the service account name, then select

Properties

Select

Dial-in

, then

Deny

the

Network Access Permission

Configure a Service Account for the PAN-OS Integrated User-ID Agent

Create a dedicated Active Directory service account for the PAN-OS Integrated User-ID agent to access the services and hosts it will monitor to collect user mappings.You must create a service account in each domain the agent will monitor. After you enable the required permissions for the service account, Configure User Mapping Using the PAN-OS Integrated User-ID Agent.

Create an AD account for the User-ID agent.

You must create a service account in each domain the agent will monitor.

Right-click the Windows icon ( ),

for

Active Directory Users and Computers

, and launch the application.

In the navigation pane, open the domain tree, right-click

Managed Service Accounts

and select .

Enter the

First Name

Last Name

, and

User logon name

of the user and click

Enter the

Password

and

Confirm Password

, then click

and

Finish

If you want to use server monitoring to identify users, add the service account to the Event Log Reader builtin group to allow the service account to read the security log events.

On the domain controller or Exchange server that contains the logs you want the User-ID agent to read, or on the member server that receives events from Windows log forwarding, select , enter

MMC

, and select , then click

to run the MMC and launch the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in.

Navigate to the Builtin folder for the domain, right-click the

Event Log Readers

group, and select

Add to a group

Enter the name of the service account then click

Check Names

to validate that you have the proper object name.

Click

twice to save the settings.

Confirm that the builtin Event Log Reader group lists the service account as a member.

If you want to use WMI probing to collect user data, assign DCOM privileges to the service account so that it can use WMI queries on monitored servers.

Do not enable client probing on high-security networks. Client probing can generate a large amount of network traffic and can pose a security threat when misconfigured. Instead collect user mapping information from more isolated and trusted sources, such as domain controllers and through integrations with Syslog or the XML API, which have the added benefit of allowing you to safely capture user mapping information from any device type or operating system, instead of just Windows clients.

Select .

Right-click and enter the service account name.

If you want to use WMI probing, enable the account to read the CIMV2 namespace and assign the required permissions on the client systems to be probed.

Perform this task on each client system that the User-ID agent will probe for user mapping information:

Right-click the Windows icon ( ),

for

wmimgmt.msc

, and launch the WMI Management Console.

In the console tree, right-click

WMI Control

and select

Properties

Select the

Security

tab, then select , and click the

Security

button.

Add

the name of the service account you created,

Check Names

to verify your entry, and click

You might have to change the

Locations

or click

Advanced

to query for account names. See the dialog help for details.

In the Permissions for

section,

Allow

the

Enable Account

and

Remote Enable

permissions.

Click

twice.

Use the Local Users and Groups MMC snap-in (lusrmgr.msc) to add the service account to the local Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) Users and Remote Desktop Users groups on the system that will be probed.

(

Not Recommended

) To allow the agent to monitor user sessions to poll Windows servers for user mapping information, assign Server Operator privileges to the service account.

Because this group also has privileges for shutting down and restarting servers, only assign the account to this group if monitoring user sessions is very important.

Select .

Right-click add service account name

If you want to configure NTLM authentication for Captive Portal, configure the firewall to join the domain.

If you plan to configure NTLM authentication for Captive Portal, the firewall where you've configured the agent will need to join the domain. To enable this, enter the name of a group that has administrative privileges to join the domain, write to the validated service principal name, and create a computer object within the computers organization unit (ou=computers).

For a firewall with multiple virtual systems, only vsys1 can join the domain because of AD restrictions on virtual systems running on the same host.

The PAN-OS integrated agent requires privileged operations to join the domain, which poses a security threat if the account is compromised. As a best practice, configure Kerberos single sign-on (SSO) or SAML SSO authentication for Captive Portal instead of NTLM. Kerberos and SAML are stronger, more secure authentication methods and do not require the firewall to join the domain.

Select , enter

MMC

, and select .

Right-click the domain and select

Delegate Control

Click

, then

Add

the service account name and click

Click

, then

Join a computer to the domain

Click

, verify the service account information, then

Finish

Disable service account privileges that are not required.

By ensuring that the User-ID service account has the minimum set of account privileges, you can reduce the attack surface should the account be compromised.

To ensure that the User-ID account has the minimum privileges necessary, deny the following privileges on the account:

Deny interactive logon for the User-ID service account

For

Deny log on as a batch job

Deny log on locally

, and

Deny log on through Remote Desktop Services

, right-click

Properties

, then select and add the service account name, then click

Deny remote access for the User-ID service account

—This prevents an attacker from using the account to access your network from the outside the network.

, enter

MMC

, and select .

Right-click the service account name, then select

Properties

Select

Dial-in

, then

Deny

the

Network Access Permission

How To Create A Service Account

Source: https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/8-1/pan-os-admin/user-id/map-ip-addresses-to-users/create-a-dedicated-service-account-for-the-user-id-agent.html

Posted by: reifmontering.blogspot.com