It’s an old vulnerability but still exists.
Due to security vulnerabilities with NetBIOS over TCP/IP, you may wish to disable it by following instructions.
There are two ways to disable NetBIOS and this works on the majority of Windows OS including Windows 8/10 desktop and Windows 2012/2016/2019 servers.
Disable NetBIOS using GUI
- Right-click on the Network icon on the start bar at the right-hand side and click on open network and sharing center
- Click on Change adapter settings
- Right-click on your network interface and click on Properties
- Select Internet Protocol Version 4(TCP/IPv4) and click on Properties
- Click on Advanced on the properties window
- Click on the WINS tab and select Disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP
- Click OK
Done, NetBIOS over TCP/IP is disabled now.
Disable NetBIOS through Registry
If you are using Windows Server core edition or prefer using registry then the following will help.
- Launch Registry Editor
- Navigate to the following
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesNetBTParametersInterfaces
- You may have multiple interfaces. Go to the respective interface where you want to disable
- Double click on NetbiosOptions and change the value to
2
and Ok
That’s all!
Conclusion
Disabling NetBIOS on Windows is easy as you could see above.
Next, explore multiple ways to Boot Windows in safe mode.