Windows7 - “The specified network password is not correct.” when the password is in fact correct

Question

I have a samba server setup for some time now. It is a Hardware NAS - which unfortunately does not provide access to the Samba logs. (the exact model of the NAS is called Addonics NAS Adapter )

I also have a Windows Vista and a Windows XP machine - from both I am able to map \\192.168.0.20\Smd with no errors ( net use l: \\192.168.0.20\Smd works, after asking for my username and password).

I also bought a brand new computer, with Windows 7, and when I try to execute the same exact net use command on it - using the exact same username/password pair, I get a "The specified network password is not correct." message. I also tried mapping from the Windows explorer menu, and got the same error.

I synchronized the clocks of the two machines, tried again... and yet the same error persists.

So what is really surprising here is that mapping works from WindowXP and Windows Vista machines, but fails from a Windows7 machine using the exact same command and username/password - Anyone has any idea of what could be causing this or how to solve the problem? Thanks

Solution 1

Dominic D's explanation of what is going on is correct: Vista, Windows7, and Windows2008 r2 use NTLMv2 by default. Older implementations of Samba don't support this and will return a password failure. Fortunately you can tell Vista and Windows 7 (and I presume Server 2k8) to use the v1 protocol if the v2 is not available.

These are my notes for Vista, they worked for Windows 7 Pro 64-bit.

1. Start -> run -> secpol.msc
2. Local Policies -> Security Options -> Network Security: LAN Manager Authentication
3. Change NTVLM2 responses only to LM and NTLM - use NTLMV2 session security if negotiated

If you are stuck with a Vista Home, there is no secpol.msc. Instead:

1. Start -> Run -> regedit
2. navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
3. for LmCompatibilityLevel, change the '3' to a '1'
4. Rebooting might be necessary at this point.

Solution 2

Windows7 and Windows2008 r2 use NTLMv2 by default. Older implementations of Samba don't support this and will return a password failure.

We had this exact same problem on our NAS.

Two solutions

1. Bug your NAS vendor to update their implementation (we've just received a patch).
2. Push a policy change either via GPO or via Local Policy. The setting you need to modify is: Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options -> Network security: LAN Manager authentication level. Set it to Send LM & NTLM - use NTLMv2 session security if negotiated. This gives you the best of both worlds, better security if supported, fall back if not. This should be the default Windows7/Windows2008r2 option IMO, but for whatever reason it isn't.

Comments

[Dean J]

Can you check the SMB server logs?

[Kara Marfia]

Best to post your responses as comments to specific answers or by editing your original question (otherwise things get confused and out of order with upvotes).

[bobobobo]

Actually I found the problem under Windows 7 / Vista is a lot worse than it appears. <a href="nikhef.nl/~janjust/CifsOverSSH/VistaLoopback.html">Thi‌​s walkthrough</a> might be of help to you if the accepted answer didn't work.

[Mike T]

See also superuser.com/questions/115337/…

[Garrett]

Pro and Ultimate wouldn't handle networking differently than Home, but it could be a change to the networking in Windows 7 that caused the incompatibility.

[Win7 Home User]

Right - that is what I am doing (in the original post here I wrote this incorrectly - but I am giving the right commands).

[Win7 Home User]

I wasn't able to find a "Local Security Policy" menu - maybe because my Windows is Home? At any case, the closest I found to this was this option: File sharing connections Windows 7 uses 128-bit encryption to help protect file sharing connections. Some devices don't support 128-bit encryption and must use 40- or 56-bit encryption. [ ] Use 128-bit encryption to help protect file sharing connections (recommended) [ ] Enable file sharing for devices that use 40- or 56-bit encryption I enabled the second option, but nothing seems to change (even after a reboot).

[Dominic D]

Hrrm...I dont have a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium to verify but according to social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7security/thread/‌​… it's not available in that version of windows. I have no idea how you can modify those settings without it.

[Win7 Home User]

I tried that. Disabled SMB2 using the commands (I am using === as a separator): === sc config lanmanworkstation depend= bowser/mrxsmb10/nsi === sc config mrxsmb20 start= disabled === but it didn't work (even after a reboot).

[Win7 Home User]

Thank you very much! I created a new LmCompatibilityLevel entry under the place you indicated (it was missing) as a REG_DWORD with a value of 1, and after a reboot I was able to mount the share under Windows7! I now have a bizarre problem where all folders appear as invisible when under the mapped drive when in a cmd.exe Window (again, on Windows7-only) - but I can live with this (I just hope Cygwin works properly... installing now).

[Win7 Home User]

Thanks for the responses - David Mackintosh gave a tip that solved the problem!

[Kara Marfia]

@Garrett - well, I guess you can't join Home to a domain? But good to know it's unchanged otherwise.

[Garrett]

Right, no domain joins and some other things like being a Remote Desktop destination, bitlocker, etc... but if they both do something, they do it the same way.

[Royce Williams]

Future readers: it is in your best interest to do whatever is feasible to encourage the vendor to update their Samba, because Windows password storage schemes prior to NTLMv2 are significantly easier to crack. lbl.gov/cyber/systems/lanman.html has a clear explanation.

[lowtech]

Did exactly the same as "Win7 Home User" and it worked on my Win 10 home x64