Special Identities

[admin]

Special identity groups are similar to Active Directory security groups as listed in the users and built-in containers. Special identity groups can provide an efficient way to assign access to resources in your network. By using special identity groups, you can:

Assign user rights to security groups in Active Directory.

Assign permissions to security groups for the purpose of accessing resources.

Servers that are running the supported Windows Server operating systems designated in the Applies To list at the beginning of this topic include several special identity groups. These special identity groups do not have specific memberships that can be modified, but they can represent different users at different times, depending on the circumstances.

Although the special identity groups can be assigned rights and permissions to resources, the memberships cannot be modified or viewed. Group scopes do not apply to special identity groups. Users are automatically assigned to these special identity groups whenever they sign in or access a particular resource.

For information about security groups and group scope, see Active Directory Security Groups.

The special identity groups are described in the following tables:

Anonymous Logon

Authenticated User

Batch

Creator Group

Creator Owner

Dialup

Digest Authentication

Enterprise Domain Controllers

Everyone

Interactive

Local Service

LocalSystem

Network

Network Service

NTLM Authentication

Other Organization

Principal Self

Remote Interactive Logon

Restricted

SChannel Authentication

Service

Terminal Server User

This Organization

Window Manager\Window Manager Group

Anonymous Logon
Any user who accesses the system through an anonymous logon has the Anonymous Logon identity. This identity allows anonymous access to resources, such as a web page that is published on corporate servers. The Anonymous Logon group is not a member of the Everyone group by default.

TABLE 1
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-7
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights None
Authenticated Users
Any user who accesses the system through a sign-in process has the Authenticated Users identity. This identity allows access to shared resources within the domain, such as files in a shared folder that should be accessible to all the workers in the organization. Membership is controlled by the operating system.

TABLE 2
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-11
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=System,cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights Access this computer from the network: SeNetworkLogonRight
Add workstations to domain: SeMachineAccountPrivilege
Bypass traverse checking: SeChangeNotifyPrivilege
Batch
Any user or process that accesses the system as a batch job (or through the batch queue) has the Batch identity. This identity allows batch jobs to run scheduled tasks, such as a nightly cleanup job that deletes temporary files. Membership is controlled by the operating system.

TABLE 3
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-3
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights none
Creator Group
The person who created the file or the directory is a member of this special identity group. Windows Server operating systems use this identity to automatically grant access permissions to the creator of a file or directory.

A placeholder security identifier (SID) is created in an inheritable access control entry (ACE). When the ACE is inherited, the system replaces this SID with the SID for the primary group of the object’s current owner. The primary group is used only by the Portable Operating System Interface for UNIX (POSIX) subsystem.

TABLE 4
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-3-1
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights none
Creator Owner
The person who created the file or the directory is a member of this special identity group. Windows Server operating systems use this identity to automatically grant access permissions to the creator of a file or directory. A placeholder SID is created in an inheritable ACE. When the ACE is inherited, the system replaces this SID with the SID for the object’s current owner.

TABLE 5
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-3-0
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights none
Dialup
Any user who accesses the system through a dial-up connection has the Dial-Up identity. This identity distinguishes dial-up users from other types of authenticated users.

TABLE 6
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-1
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights none
Digest Authentication
TABLE 7
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-64-21
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights none
Enterprise Domain Controllers
This group includes all domain controllers in an Active Directory forest. Domain controllers with enterprise-wide roles and responsibilities have the Enterprise Domain Controllers identity. This identity allows them to perform certain tasks in the enterprise by using transitive trusts. Membership is controlled by the operating system.

TABLE 8
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-9
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights Access this computer from the network: SeNetworkLogonRight
Allow log on locally: SeInteractiveLogonRight
Everyone
All interactive, network, dial-up, and authenticated users are members of the Everyone group. This special identity group gives wide access to system resources. Whenever a user logs on to the network, the user is automatically added to the Everyone group.

On computers running Windows 2000 and earlier, the Everyone group included the Anonymous Logon group as a default member, but as of Windows Server 2003, the Everyone group contains only Authenticated Users and Guest; and it no longer includes Anonymous Logon by default (although this can be changed).

Membership is controlled by the operating system.

TABLE 9
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-1-0
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights Access this computer from the network: SeNetworkLogonRight
Act as part of the operating system: SeTcbPrivilege
Bypass traverse checking: SeChangeNotifyPrivilege
Interactive
Any user who is logged on to the local system has the Interactive identity. This identity allows only local users to access a resource. Whenever a user accesses a given resource on the computer to which they are currently logged on, the user is automatically added to the Interactive group. Membership is controlled by the operating system.

TABLE 10
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-4
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights None
Local Service
The Local Service account is similar to an Authenticated User account. The Local Service account has the same level of access to resources and objects as members of the Users group. This limited access helps safeguard your system if individual services or processes are compromised. Services that run as the Local Service account access network resources as a null session with anonymous credentials. The name of the account is NT AUTHORITY\LocalService. This account does not have a password.

TABLE 11
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-19
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights Adjust memory quotas for a process: SeIncreaseQuotaPrivilege
Bypass traverse checking: SeChangeNotifyPrivilege
Change the system time: SeSystemtimePrivilege
Change the time zone: SeTimeZonePrivilege
Create global objects: SeCreateGlobalPrivilege
Generate security audits: SeAuditPrivilege
Impersonate a client after authentication: SeImpersonatePrivilege
Replace a process level token: SeAssignPrimaryTokenPrivilege
LocalSystem
This is a service account that is used by the operating system. The LocalSystem account is a powerful account that has full access to the system and acts as the computer on the network. If a service logs on to the LocalSystem account on a domain controller, that service has access to the entire domain. Some services are configured by default to log on to the LocalSystem account. Do not change the default service setting. The name of the account is LocalSystem. This account does not have a password.

TABLE 12
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-18
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights None
Network
This group implicitly includes all users who are logged on through a network connection. Any user who accesses the system through a network has the Network identity. This identity allows only remote users to access a resource. Whenever a user accesses a given resource over the network, the user is automatically added to the Network group. Membership is controlled by the operating system.

TABLE 13
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-2
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights None
Network Service
The Network Service account is similar to an Authenticated User account. The Network Service account has the same level of access to resources and objects as members of the Users group. This limited access helps safeguard your system if individual services or processes are compromised. Services that run as the Network Service account access network resources by using the credentials of the computer account. The name of the account is NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService. This account does not have a password.

TABLE 14
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-20
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights Adjust memory quotas for a process: SeIncreaseQuotaPrivilege
Bypass traverse checking: SeChangeNotifyPrivilege
Create global objects: SeCreateGlobalPrivilege
Generate security audits: SeAuditPrivilege
Impersonate a client after authentication: SeImpersonatePrivilege
Replace a process level token: SeAssignPrimaryTokenPrivilege
NTLM Authentication
TABLE 15
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-64-10
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights None
Other Organization
This group implicitly includes all users who are logged on to the system through a dial-up connection. Membership is controlled by the operating system.

TABLE 16
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-1000
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights None
Principal Self
This identify is a placeholder in an ACE on a user, group, or computer object in Active Directory. When you grant permissions to Principal Self, you grant them to the security principal that is represented by the object. During an access check, the operating system replaces the SID for Principal Self with the SID for the security principal that is represented by the object.

TABLE 17
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-10
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights None
Remote Interactive Logon
This identity represents all users who are currently logged on to a computer by using a Remote Desktop connection. This group is a subset of the Interactive group. Access tokens that contain the Remote Interactive Logon SID also contain the Interactive SID.

TABLE 18
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-14
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights None
Restricted
Users and computers with restricted capabilities have the Restricted identity. This identity group is used by a process that is running in a restricted security context, such as running an application with the RunAs service. When code runs at the Restricted security level, the Restricted SID is added to the user’s access token.

TABLE 19
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-12
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights None
SChannel Authentication
TABLE 20
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-64-14
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights None
Service
Any service that accesses the system has the Service identity. This identity group includes all security principals that are signed in as a service. This identity grants access to processes that are being run by Windows Server services. Membership is controlled by the operating system.

TABLE 21
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-6
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights Create global objects: SeCreateGlobalPrivilege
Impersonate a client after authentication: SeImpersonatePrivilege
Terminal Server User
Any user accessing the system through Terminal Services has the Terminal Server User identity. This identity allows users to access Terminal Server applications and to perform other necessary tasks with Terminal Server services. Membership is controlled by the operating system.

TABLE 22
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-13
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights None
This Organization
TABLE 23
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID S-1-5-15
Object Class Foreign Security Principal
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights None
Window Manager\Window Manager Group
TABLE 24
Attribute Value
Well-Known SID/RID
Object Class
Default Location in Active Directory cn=WellKnown Security Principals, cn=Configuration, dc=<forestRootDomain>
Default User Rights Bypass traverse checking: SeChangeNotifyPrivilege
Increase a process working set: SeIncreaseWorkingSetPrivilege