Account Lockout Event also Stored in Security Event Log on Domain Controller

ID: Q182918

The information in this article applies to:


IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information on how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" online Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" online Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SYMPTOMS

When users enter a series of incorrect passwords in an attempt to log on to Windows NT using domain accounts and the Bad Logon Attempts limit for the account is reached, the account is locked out at the domain controller.

Windows NT generates an account lockout event (Event ID: 539) on the workstation where the failed logon attempts occurred if the audit policy on that workstation enables auditing of failed logon/logoff events. However, no event is logged at the domain controller. Administrators must search the event logs of all client systems to locate the computer where the bad password attempts originated.


RESOLUTION

Before You Apply The Hotfix

Because this hotfix makes a modification to the on-disk storage of the LSA data information, Microsoft does not recommend that it be uninstalled. Perform the following steps to ease the transition back to a pre-LSA2-fix configuration in case you experience problems with the hotfix:

  1. Perform a Full System Backup.


  2. Run Rdisk /s. Using the /s command-line switch with Rdisk.exe causes the Sam._ and Security._ databases to be copied to the %Systemroot%\Repair folder.


  3. Create a temporary folder under the %Systemroot% folder called Lsabackout.


  4. Copy the following files from the %Systemroot\System32 folder to the %Systemroot%\Lsabackout folder as they are updated by LSA2-fix:
    Eventlog.dll
    Lsasrv.dll
    Msaudite.dll
    Msv1_0.dll
    Netcfg.dll
    Samlib.dll
    Samsrv.dll
    Services.exe
    Srvmgr.exe
    Xactsrv.dll


  5. Create an updated Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) which updates the on-disk SAM and Registry information in the %Systemroot%\System32\Config folder.


To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT 4.0 or Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack

NOTE: This hotfix supersedes the fix referred to in the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q154087
TITLE : Access Violation in LSASS.EXE Due to Incorrect Buffer Size

ARTICLE-ID: Q174205
TITLE : LSASS May Use a Large Amount of Memory on a Domain Controller

ARTICLE-ID: Q129457
TITLE : Anonymous Connections May Be Able to Obtain the Password Policy


This hotfix has been posted as Lsa2fixi.exe (x86) and Lsa2fixa.exe (Alpha). For your convenience, the English version of this post-SP3 hotfix has been posted to the following Internet location. However, Microsoft recommends that you install Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 to correct this problem.

NOTE: An updated version of this hotfix was posted on July 20, 1998 and provides an additional security level to systems running Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 3.

ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/fixes/usa/NT40/hotfixes-postSP3/lsa2-fix/

If you run Systems Management Server on systems where this hotfix is applied, the SNMP Event Log Extension Agent (Snmpelea) generates the following Event ID 3007 error: 


   Error opening event log file Security.
   Log will not be processed.
   Return code from OpenEventLog is 1314.


The SNMP Event Log Extension Agent requires an update to manage the security event log. To resolve the SNMP Event Log Extension Agent problem, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q183770
TITLE : SMS: Snmpelea Unable to Open Security Event Log


MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft provides a hotfix to change this behavior. After the hotfix is applied on all domain controllers, bad logon attempts that cause a user's account to be locked out generate an audit event in the security event log on the domain controller that handles the logon request. A new security event (Event ID: 644 - User Account Locked Out) is generated at the primary domain controller to indicate the user account was automatically locked out because of bad logon attempts. The security event is generated if the audit policy for the domain enables Success for the User and Group Management audit category.

If the client workstation is a computer running Windows NT or Windows 95, the account lockout event includes the client workstation name to identify the computer where the bad passwords are entered.

If you experience problems with this hotfix, perform the following steps to restore the system to its original configuration before applying the hotfix:

  1. Perform a full system backup including the registry. This backup set should only be necessary if the following steps fail.


  2. Rename the following files the %Systemroot%\System32 folder that were replaced by the hotfix:
    Eventlog.dll
    Lsasrv.dll
    Msaudite.dll
    Msv1_0.dll
    Netcfg.dll
    Samlib.dll
    Samsrv.dll
    Services.exe
    Srvmgr.exe
    Xactsrv.dll


  3. Copy the original versions of these system files from the \%Systemroot%\Lsabackout folder to the %Systemroot%\System32 folder.


  4. Restart the computer using the installation disks and select the option to repair the system.


  5. Deselect all options except Inspect Registry Files and then continue.


  6. Press the ESC key to indicate you wish to use the on-disk repair information.


  7. Press ENTER to repair.


  8. Click only Security (security policy) and SAM (user accounts database).

    WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

    For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it.


  9. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe) and delete the Q184017 key from:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT
    \CurrentVersion\Hotfix

    NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.



STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. This problem was first corrected in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition Service Pack 4.

Additional query words: 4.00 bad password lockout after 


Keywords          : NT4SP4Fix NT4SP4Fea ntsecurity kbbug4.00 kbfix4.00.sp4 
Version           : WinNT:4.0
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbbug

Last Reviewed: April 10, 1999