Integrate LDAP Server with an account in protected users Group in AD

[mendess_Jk]

Hello everyone,

is it a solution to manage ldap servers integrated to a fortigate, but with an account in protected users group.

It seems that once the account i use to connect my fortigate and my AD servers is put in the protected users group, the fortigate cannot contact ldap servers anymore, so all the SSL VPN authentication requests fail.

Thanks for your help, if you have any solution.

[funkylicious]

Hi,
According to this : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/security/credentials-protection-and-management/prot...

Authentication will fail with the error "the user name or password is incorrect" for any service or computer that is added to the Protected Users group.

Therefore you should not add it to that group.

[mendess_Jk]

Many thanks funkylicious for your reply and the time given to this topic?

The issue is, when the system team perform an AD audit, there is an alert on that account, as It should be in the protected users group. That s why I was asking if there is any solution to bypass that.

Regards

[tassos]

same issue here

[WFF-Master · Accepted solution]

I found this answer in another community:
"Putting user into "Protected Users" forbids them from authenticating via NTLM, and since LDAP simple bind is somehow (idk, ask Microsoft) internally processed as NTLM by the DC, that effectively means that being a member of "Protected Users" blocks you from LDAP authentication"

As far as I understand it, it is therefore not possible to authenticate users who are in the group in question via a simple LDAP connection. Perhaps Fortinet support can help in this regard

[tassos]

thank you for your info, I've just got the same answer by fortinet officially, it cannot be done.