Disabling SMB v2/v3 on a server protected by Neverfail Continuity Engine
Summary
This knowledgebase article provides information regarding what means SMB v2/v3 disablement, and how this should be done on a system protected by Neverfail Continuity Engine.
Description
What is Windows Server hardening?
System hardening is the practice of minimizing the attack surface of a computer system or server. The goal is to reduce the amount of security weaknesses and vulnerabilities that threat actors can exploit.
Is it safe to disable SMB v2/v3 in Windows Server?
In some situations, one may desire to disable SMB v2/v3 protocols in order to harden their systems. The immediate question is: Is this safe?
As per Microsoft, "...we recommend that you do not disable SMBv2 or SMBv3. Disable SMBv2 or SMBv3 only as a temporary troubleshooting measure. Do not leave SMBv2 or SMBv3 disabled."
Is Continuity Engine impacted by SMB v2/v3 disablement?
SMB v2 feature is a must requirement when installing, upgrading or uninstalling Continuity Engine using the Engine Management Service. But, once deployment or upgrading is completed, Engine doesn't need anymore SMB v2/v3 for its HA/DR operations. So, if there is a strong desire in disabling SMB v2/v3 for hardening your server, then Neverfail recommendation is to disable SMB v2/v3 only after the Engine deployment and configuration is completed. Subsequently, one must enable SMB v2/v3 for allowing Engine upgrade. Then it can be safely disabled again.
How to detect, enable and disable SMBv1, SMBv2, and SMBv3 in Windows
Applies to
Continuity Engine 9.x (and later)
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