Microsoft Identity Manager 2016 Password Management

Article
09/14/2023

Managing passwords for multiple user accounts is one of the complexities of managing an enterprise environment with multiple data sources. Microsoft Identity Manager 2016 (MIM) provides two password management solutions:

Password synchronization – Utilizes the password change notification service (PCNS) to capture password changes from Active Directory and propagate them to other connected data sources.
User-based password change management – Utilizes the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) through Web-based Help Desk and self-service password reset applications.

By using password synchronization and user-based password change management, you can:

Reduce the number of different passwords users have to remember.
Simultaneously set or change passwords in a user's multiple accounts to the same password.
Allow users to change their own passwords in Active Directory and push the password change out to other systems.
Eliminate the risk of building an additional password or credential store.
Synchronize passwords across multiple data sources by using Active Directory as the authoritative source.
Perform password management operations in real time, independent of MIM operations.

Password extensions

Management agents for directory servers support password change and set operations by default. For file-based, database, and extensible connectivity management agents, which do not support password change and set operations by default, you can create a .NET password extension dynamic-link library (DLL). The .NET password extension DLL is called whenever a password change or set call is invoked for any of these management agents. Password extension settings are configured for these management agents in Synchronization Service Manager. For more information about configuring password extensions, see the FIM Developer Reference.

Password management is supported by default in the management agents for:	By using a password extension, password management is also supported in the management agents for:
Active Directory	Attribute-value pair text files
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (ADLDS)	Delimited text files
IBM Directory Server	Directory Services Markup Language (DSML)
Lotus Notes	Extensible Connectivity
Novell eDirectory	Fixed-width text files
Sun and Netscape directory servers	IBM DB2 Universal Database
	LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF)
	Microsoft SQL Server
	Oracle Database

Password synchronization

Password synchronization works with the password change notification service (PCNS) on an Active Directory domain, and allows password changes that originate from Active Directory to be automatically propagated to other connected data sources. MIM accomplishes this by running as a Remote Procedure Call (RPC) server that listens for a password change notification from an Active Directory domain controller. When the password change request is received and authenticated, it is processed by MIM and propagated to the appropriate management agents.

Important

Bi-directional password synchronization is not supported by MIM. Configuring bi-directional password synchronization can create a loop, which will consume server resources and have a potentially negative effect on both Active Directory and MIM.

The PCNS runs on each Active Directory domain controller. The systems that receive the password notifications are known as targets. Your MIM server must be configured as a PCNS target in Active Directory before password notifications are sent. The PCNS configuration must define an inclusion group and, optionally, an exclusion group. These groups are used to restrict the flow of sensitive passwords from the domain. For example, to send passwords for all users, but not send administrative passwords, you might choose to use Domain Users as the inclusion group, and Domain Admins as the exclusion group. For more information about configuring the password change notification service, see Using Password Synchronization

The components involved in the password synchronization process are:

Password change notification service (Pcnssvc.exe)–The password change notification service runs on a domain controller and is responsible for receiving password change notifications from the local password filter, queuing them for the target server running MIM, and using RPC to deliver the notifications. The service encrypts the password and ensures that the password remains secure until it is successfully delivered to the target server running MIM.
Service principal name (SPN) – The SPN is a property on the account object in Active Directory that is used by the Kerberos protocol to mutually authenticate the PCNS and the target. The SPN ensures that the PCNS authenticates to the correct server running MIM, and that no other service can receive the password change notifications. The SPN is created and assigned by using the setspn.exe tool. For more information about configuring the SPN, see Using Password Synchronization.
Password change notification filter (Pcnsflt.dll) – The password filter is used to obtain plaintext passwords from Active Directory. This filter is loaded by the Local Security Authority (LSA) on each Windows Server domain controller participating in password distribution to a target server running MIM. Once the filter has been installed and the domain controller has been restarted, the filter begins to receive password change notifications for password changes that originate on that domain controller. The password notification filter runs simultaneously with other filters that are running on the domain controller.
Password change notification service configuration utility (Pcnscfg.exe) – The pcnscfg.exe utility is used to manage and maintain the password change notification service configuration parameters stored within Active Directory. These configuration parameters, such as defining the target servers, the password queue retry interval, and enabling or disabling a target server, are used when authenticating and sending password notifications to the target server running MIM. The service configuration is stored in Active Directory, so it is only necessary to update the configuration on one domain controller. Active Directory replicates the change to all other domain controllers.
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) server on the server running MIM – When password synchronization is enabled, the RPC server on the server running MIM is started, enabling it to receive notifications from the password change notification service. RPC dynamically selects a range of ports to use. If you require MIM to communicate with the Active Directory forest through a firewall, you must open a range of ports.
Password extension DLL – The password extension DLL provides a way to implement password set or change operations by means of a rules extension for any database, extensible connectivity, or file-based management agent. This is accomplished by creating an export-only, encrypted attribute named "export_password" that does not actually exist in the connected directory but can be accessed and set in provisioning rules extensions or can be used during export attribute flow. For more information about configuring password extensions, see the FIM Developer Reference.

Preparing for password synchronization

Before you set up password synchronization for your MIM and Active Directory environment, verify the following:

MIM is installed according to installation instructions.
Management agents for the connected data sources to be managed for password synchronization are already created and the objects are being successfully joined and synchronized.

To set up password synchronization:

Extend the Active Directory schema to add the classes and attributes necessary for installing and running the password change notification service (PCNS).
Install the PCNS on each domain controller.
Configure the service principal name (SPN) in Active Directory for the MIM service account.
Configure the PCNS to communicate with the target MIM service.
Configure the management agents for the connected data sources to be managed for password synchronization.
Enable password synchronization on MIM.

For more information about setting up password synchronization, see Using Password Synchronization.

Password synchronization process

The process of synchronizing a password change request from an Active Directory domain controller to other connected data sources is shown in the following diagram:

The user initiates the password change request by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del. The password change request, including the new password, is sent to the nearest domain controller.
The domain controller records the password change request and notifies the password change notification filter (Pcnsflt.dll).
The password change notification filter passes the request to the password change notification service (PCNS).
The PCNS verifies the password change request, then authenticates the service principal name (SPN) by using Kerberos, and forwards the password change request in encrypted RPC to the MIM target server.
MIM validates the source domain controller, then uses the domain name to locate the management agent that services that domain, and uses the user account information in the password change request to locate the corresponding object in the connector space.
By using the join table information, MIM determines the management agents that receive the password change, and pushes the password change out to them.

Password synchronization security

The following password synchronization security concerns have been addressed:

Authentication from the password source – When the password change notification is received, Kerberos authentication is done by MIM as well as the source domain controller to ensure both the recipient and sender are valid. Upon receiving a password change notification, MIM ensures that the caller has an account in the Domain Controllers container of the domain it belongs to.
Failed password synchronization to a target data source due to an insecure connection – If the management agent has been configured to require a secure connection but one is not detected, the synchronization fails. Synchronization still occurs if the management agent has been configured to allow nonsecure connections. Allowing non-secure connections should be enabled only after examining and understanding the risks involved.
Secure storage of passwords – MIM only stores encrypted passwords temporarily. All passwords received by MIM during a password change notification operation are encrypted as soon as they enter the MIM process. The moment they are successfully sent out to the target connected data source, they are decrypted, and the memory storing the password is immediately cleared. If the operation fails to write to the target connected data source, the encrypted password is stored until all retry attempts have been attempted, and then is cleared from memory.
Secure password queues – Passwords stored in PCNS password queues are encrypted until they are delivered.

Password synchronization error recovery scenarios

Ideally, whenever a user changes a password, the change is synchronized with no errors. The following scenarios describe how MIM recovers from common synchronization errors:

Failed password notification from Active Directory to MIM – This can occur if the network is down, or if the server running MIM is unavailable. The password change notification remains queued locally on the domain controller by the PCNS. The PCNS reattempts the notification according to its retry interval configuration.
Failed password synchronization to a target data source – This can also occur if the network is down, or if the target data source is unavailable. The password change notification is queued and retried according to the management agent's configuration for retry attempt and retry interval. All passwords are encrypted while they are stored for retry, and deleted when the operation succeeds or the retry limits are hit.
Activating a warm standby server running MIM after a failure – In the case of the primary server running MIM failing, you can configure a warm standby server for password synchronization, and activate it with no loss of password changes. For more information, see MIISactivate: Server Activation Tool

Some failures are serious enough that no amount of retries is likely to result in a successful operation. In these cases, an error event is logged and the process is stopped. The following events are not retried:

Event	Severity	Description
6919	Information	A password synchronization set operation was not performed because the timestamp was out of date.
6921	Error	The password synchronization set operation was not processed because password management is not enabled on the target management agent.
6922	Error	The password synchronization set operation was not processed because password management is not configured on the target management agent.
6923	Warning	The password synchronization set operation was not processed because the target connector space object could not be found in the connected directory.
6927	Error	The password synchronization set operation failed because the password does not satisfy the password policy of the target system.
6928	Error	The password synchronization set operation failed because the password extension for the target management agent is not configured to support password set operations.

User-based password change management

MIM provides two web applications that use Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) for resetting passwords. As with password synchronization, you activate password management when you configure the management agent in Management Agent Designer. For information about password management and WMI, see the MIM Developer Reference.

MIM creates two security groups during installation that specifically support password management operations:

FIMSyncBrowse—Members of this group have permission to gather information about a user's accounts when doing search operations with WMI queries.
FIMSyncPasswordSet—Members of this group have permission to perform account search, password set, and password change operations using the password management interfaces with WMI.