A security policy does not process restricted groups correctly

If you configure a restricted group by using Group Policy, the membership list is incomplete when the group is processed by the client. This problem is indicated by events from the SceCle and Userenv sources in the application event log. For example: You can identify the restricted group that is causing the problem by viewing the Winlogon.log file that is created. To do this, you must turn on SceCli debugging. For additional information about how to turn on debug logging, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: In some cases, after the problem occurs, there is no additional processing of any security policy until you resolve the issue.

This problem is triggered when a user object that has been configured to be a member of a restricted group is deleted from Active Directory.

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 hotfix information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

Windows 2003 Server, 32-bit editions

Windows Server 2003, 64-Bit Edition

Windows XP hotfix information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

Windows XP Professional, 32-bit version

Windows XP Professional, 64-bit edition

Windows 2000 service pack information

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

File information

The English version of this fix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

To work around this problem, remove the orphaned security identifiers (SIDs) from the list of accounts that are to be configured by using Group Policy for the affected group.

If security policy processing stops working completely because of this problem, the workaround is not effective until you restart the computer.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Windows 2000 Service Pack 3.

For additional information about how to obtain a hotfix for Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For additional information about how to install multiple hotfixes with only one reboot, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: