Windows New Technology Local Area Network Manager (NTLM)

General Information

Technologies must be operated and maintained in accordance with Federal and Department security and privacy policies and guidelines. More information on the proper use of the TRM can be found on the TRM Proper Use Tab/Section.

Website:	Go to site
Description:	Windows New Technology Local Area Network Manager (NTLM) is a suite of Microsoft security protocols that provides authentication, integrity, and confidentiality to users. This protocol is the successor to the authentication protocol in Microsoft Local Area Network Manager (LANMAN) and enhances New Technology Local Area Network Manager security by hardening the protocol against many spoofing attacks and adding the ability for a server to authenticate to the client.
Technology/Standard Usage Requirements:	Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.
Section 508 Information:
Decision:	View Decisions

Decision Source:	TRM Mgmt Group
Decision Process:	One-VA TRM v22.11
Decision Date:	11/26/2022 at 00:53:38 UTC
Aliases:	authentication protocol; Windows authentication
Introduced By:
Standards Body:	Microsoft

Vendor Release Information

The Vendor Release table provides the known releases for the TRM Industry Standard, obtained from the vendor (or from the release source).

Version	Release Date	Vendor End of Life Date	Vendor Desupport Date
NTLMv1	07/27/1993
NTLMv2	07/29/1996

Current Decision Matrix (11/10/2022)

Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.

The VA Decision Matrix displays the current and future VA IT position regarding different releases of a TRM entry. These decisions are based upon the best information available as of the most current date. The consumer of this information has the responsibility to consult the organizations responsible for the desktop, testing, and/or production environments to ensure that the target version of the technology will be supported. Any major.minor version that is not listed in the VA Decision Matrix is considered unapproved for use.

Legend:

White	Approved: The technology/standard has been approved for use.
Yellow	Approved w/Constraints: The technology/standard can be used within the specified constraints located below the decision matrix in the footnote[1] and on the General tab.
Gray	Unapproved: This technology or standard can be used only if a POA&M review is conducted and signed by the Authorizing Official Designated Representative (AODR) as designated by the Authorizing Official (AO) or designee and based upon a recommendation from the POA&M Compliance Enforcement, has been granted to the project team or organization that wishes to use the technology.
Orange	Divest: VA has decided to divest itself on the use of the technology/standard. As a result, all projects currently utilizing the technology/standard must plan to eliminate their use of the technology/standard. Additional information on when the entry is projected to become unapproved may be found on the Decision tab for the specific entry.
Black	Prohibited: The technology/standard is not (currently) permitted to be used under any circumstances.
Blue	Planning/Evaluation Constraint:The period of time this technology is currently being evaluated, reviewed, and tested in controlled environments. Use of this technology is strictly controlled and not available for use within the general population. If a customer would like to use this technology, please work with your local or Regional OI&T office and contact the appropriate evaluation office displayed in the notes below the decision matrix. The Local or Regional OI&T office should submit an inquiry to the TRM if they require further assistance or if the evaluating office is not listed in the notes below.

Release/Version Information:

VA decisions for specific versions may include a ‘.x’ wildcard, which denotes a decision that pertains to a range of multiple versions.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 7.x would cover any version of 7.(Anything) - 7.(Anything). However, a 7.4.x decision would cover any version of 7.4.(Anything), but would not cover any version of 7.5.x or 7.6.x on the TRM.

VA decisions for specific versions may include ‘+’ symbols; which denotes that the decision for the version specified also includes versions greater than what is specified but is not to exceed or affect previous decimal places.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 12.6.4+ would cover any version that is greater than 12.6.4, but would not exceed the .6 decimal ie: 12.6.401 is ok, 12.6.5 is ok, 12.6.9 is ok, however 12.7.0 or 13.0 is not.

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NTLMv1

Prohibited

NTLMv2

Approved w/Constraints
[4]

Decision Constraints


[1]	Only NTLMv2 is permitted for use. At time of writing, NTLMv1 and its predecessor LAN Manager (LanMan/LM) are newly prohibited due to security vulnerabilities. Use of the NTLMv2 protocol must be in accordance with Federal and Department security policies and guidelines.

[2]	Only NT LAN Manager version 2 (NTLMv2) is permitted for use. At time of writing, NTLMv1 and its predecessor LAN Manager (LanMan/LM) are newly prohibited due to security vulnerabilities. Use of the NTLMv2 protocol must be in accordance with Federal and Department security policies and guidelines.

[3]	Due to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) identified security vulnerabilities, extra vigilance should be applied to ensure the versions remain properly patched to mitigate known and future vulnerabilities. The local ISO can provide assistance in reviewing the NIST vulnerabilities.

[4]	Only New Technology Local Area Network Manager version 2 (NTLMv2) is permitted for use. At time of writing, New Technology Local Area Network Manager version 1 and its predecessor Local Area Network Manager (LanMan/LM) are newly prohibited due to security vulnerabilities. Use of the New Technology Local Area Network Manager version 2 protocol must be in accordance with Federal and Department security policies and guidelines.

Note:

At the time of writing, NTLMv2 is the latest version and was released on 07/29/1996.

References

The following reference(s) are associated with this entry:
Type	Name	Source	Description
Vendor Provided*	Security guidance for NTLMv1 and LM network authentication	Microsoft	This link contains Microsoft technical information for disabling support for NTLMv1 and LanMan (LM) and supporting only NTLMv2 on Windows client and server systems.
*NOTE: Vendor provided information is subject to the accuracy of the manufacturer.

Standard Components

Note: This list may not be complete. No component, listed or unlisted, may be used outside of the technology in which it is released. The usage decision for a component is found in the Decision and Decision Constraints.
Source	Name	Description
No components have been identified for this entry.

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Domain Area	Category	Customer Guidance	Category Locked By ELT Date
Security Identity and Access Management	Authentication

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Implemented By/Verified With:

Windows Client - (implemented by)
Windows Server - (implemented by)

Comparable Standards:

No comparable entries have been identified.

Associated Standards:

No standards have been associated with this standard.

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

This is a mature protocol.
This protocol is widely used within the enterprise.
The use of secure authentication protocols helps improve the security posture of the organization by properly controlling access to systems and services on the enterprise network.
At the time of writing, no National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) vulnerabilities had been reported and no VA Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC) bulletins had been issued for the latest versions of this protocol.
This is a well-documented protocol.

Adoption Risks

Microsoft no longer recommends Windows New Technology Local Area Network Manager due to its inter-operability issues, but it is still supported by Microsoft.
Windows New Technology Local Area Network Manager version 1 (NTLMv1) and LAN Manager (LM) network authentication has the potential to be at risk for attacks against user credentials.
There has been no recent update to this protocol.

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General Analysis

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