Vulnerability Discussion

UAC is a security mechanism for limiting the elevation of privileges, including administrative accounts, unless authorized. This setting requires Windows to respond to application installation requests by prompting for credentials.

Check

UAC requirements are NA for Server Core installations (this is the default installation option for Windows Server 2022 versus Server with Desktop Experience).

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: \SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\

Value Name: EnableInstallerDetection

Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0x00000001 (1)

Fix

Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Windows Settings >> Security Settings >> Local Policies >> Security Options >> User Account Control: Detect application installations and prompt for elevation to "Enabled".