Perform BitLocker Recovery Password Rotation in Active Directory

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In this article, we shall discuss how to Perform BitLocker Recovery Password Rotation in Active Directory. Kindly see, How to Change BitLocker Password in Windows and how to Force BitLocker Recovery mode: How to unlock BitLocker Protected Drive. Maintaining the security of BitLocker-encrypted drives is crucial. Situations may arise where users forget their PINs or significant changes in the system configuration necessitate the use of the 48-character BitLocker recovery key.

Often, users are not at their desks and may need the key communicated via phone or mobile device, which presents a security risk. Users might write down the recovery password or store it insecurely. Therefore, it’s best for users not to know the recovery key. If they must use it, then the key should be renew immediately afterward.

Here are other related guides: Manage BitLocker and FileVault with Trellix Native Encryption, Install BitLocker on Windows Server via the Server Manager, and How to Prevent Standard Users from Changing BitLocker Password.

Creating a New Key Protector

Tools like manage-bde and PowerShell are essential for managing BitLocker keys. While they don’t directly update the recovery password, you can remove the old one and generate a new one. In PowerShell, you will use Add-BitLockerKeyProtector and Remove-BitLockerKeyProtector cmdlets for this purpose.

Below is a script designed to renew the recovery password for the system drive ($env:SystemDrive). You can modify the MountPoint parameter as necessary. The -WarningAction SilentlyContinue parameter ensures that the new key is not displayed on the console.

Open PowerShell as administrator and run the script below:

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# Generate a new RecoveryPassword protector
$newRecoveryKey = Add-BitLockerKeyProtector -MountPoint $env:SystemDrive -RecoveryPasswordProtector -WarningAction SilentlyContinue

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If Add-BitLockerKeyProtector is executed without -WarningAction, the new key will be displayed on the screen as shown below:

# Generate a new RecoveryPassword protector
$newRecoveryKey = Add-BitLockerKeyProtector -MountPoint $env:SystemDrive -RecoveryPasswordProtector

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The above script stores the old BitLocker recovery passwords each time you run it. To verify this, enter the cmdlet below:

manage-bde -protectors -get C:

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Please see How does Key Rotation work in MBAM? Also, see “Manage TPM Protector: How to encrypt additional drives on an MBAM-protected device“, and “How to determine why an MBAM-protected device is non-compliant.

Removing Old Recovery Passwords from Active Directory

When a new recovery key is created and stored in AD using a Group Policy Object (GPO), the old key becomes obsolete but remains in the msFVE-RecoveryPassword attribute of the computer object. While it is possible to manually remove these old passwords via AD Users and Computers, integrating this task into a script streamlines the entire process.

After executing the script, only the new recovery key will remain in Active Directory Users and Computers.

To automate this, read the content of the relevant attribute using Get-ADObject. You can modify the script provided to query any hostname, although it initially queries the local computer object. It then deletes the existing recovery passwords before creating a new protector, ensuring each computer object contains only the currently valid recovery password.

Here is a Video on how to fix 0xc000007b Error on Windows 11, and Backup existing and new BitLocker Recovery Keys to Active Directory.

Script to Renew the Recovery Key

Ensure that you install the Active Directory module on the system before running the script. You can install the module via the RSAT (Remote Server Administration Tools) if it’s not already available.

This script checks if the Active Directory module is installed and installs it if it’s not found.

# Check if the Active Directory module is available
if (-not (Get-Module -ListAvailable -Name ActiveDirectory)) {
    Write-Host "Active Directory module not found. Installing..."
    
    # Install RSAT for Active Directory based on OS version
    $osVersion = [System.Environment]::OSVersion.Version
    if ($osVersion.Major -eq 10 -and $osVersion.Build -ge 17763) {
        # Windows 10 version 1809 or later
        Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name "Rsat.ActiveDirectory.DS-LDS.Tools~~~~0.0.1.0"
    } elseif ($osVersion.Major -eq 10 -or $osVersion.Major -eq 6) {
        # Windows 10 earlier versions or Windows Server 2016
        Install-WindowsFeature -Name "RSAT-AD-Tools"
    } else {
        Write-Error "Unsupported OS version. Please install RSAT manually."
        exit
    }
    
    # Import the module after installation
    Import-Module ActiveDirectory
} else {
    Write-Host "Active Directory module is already installed."
}

# Proceed with the rest of your script
# Your existing code here...

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Script for performing BitLocker Rotation in AD

Here is a detailed script for renewing the BitLocker recovery key:

# Retrieve KeyProtectors of type RecoveryPassword
$currentRecoveryPasswords = Get-BitLockerVolume -MountPoint $env:SystemDrive | Select-Object -ExpandProperty KeyProtector | Where-Object { $_.KeyProtectorType -eq 'RecoveryPassword' }

# Add a new RecoveryPassword protector
$newRecoveryPassword = Add-BitLockerKeyProtector -MountPoint $env:SystemDrive -RecoveryPasswordProtector -WarningAction SilentlyContinue

# If a new protector is successfully created, delete the old one
if (($newRecoveryPassword.KeyProtector | Where-Object { $_.KeyProtectorType -eq 'RecoveryPassword' }).Count -gt $currentRecoveryPasswords.Count) {
    $currentRecoveryPasswords | ForEach-Object {
        Remove-BitLockerKeyProtector -MountPoint $env:SystemDrive -KeyProtectorId $_.KeyProtectorId | Out-Null
    }
}

# Get the computer object from Active Directory
$computerObject = Get-ADComputer -Filter "Name -eq '$env:COMPUTERNAME'"

# Retrieve stored RecoveryPasswords from Active Directory
$storedRecoveryPasswords = Get-ADObject -SearchBase $computerObject -Filter { ObjectClass -eq 'msFVE-RecoveryInformation' } -Properties *

# Delete old RecoveryPasswords from Active Directory
foreach ($storedRecoveryPassword in $storedRecoveryPasswords) {
    $currentRecoveryPasswords | ForEach-Object {
        if ($storedRecoveryPassword.'msFVE-RecoveryPassword' -eq $_.RecoveryPassword) {
            Write-Host "Removing old recovery password: $($storedRecoveryPassword.'msFVE-RecoveryPassword')"
            Remove-ADObject -Identity $storedRecoveryPassword -Confirm:$false
        }
    }
}

After running the script, you can confirm that there are no old BitLocker passwords stored by using the following cmdlet.

manage-bde -protectors -get C:

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See How to determine why an MBAM-protected device is non-compliant, and How to Import Data from a GitHub Repository to Postman.

Conclusion on BitLocker Recovery Key Rotation in AD

To maintain security, renewing the BitLocker recovery password is crucial, especially if you have exposed it while unlocking a drive.

I hope you found this article on how to perform BitLocker recovery password rotation in Active Directory useful. Please feel free to leave a comment below.

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