Review WAC management compatibility with enforced application control

Source facts

Microsoft notes that WDAC policies can block unsigned scripts and installers and enforce PowerShell ConstrainedLanguage behavior. The documented WAC integration may require authorizing the appropriate certificates in a base or supplemental allow policy. For troubleshooting, the source directs administrators to check whether Microsoft.SME modules were transferred into the managed node’s PowerShell modules directory. Microsoft Learn.

Applicability

Identify the enforced application-control policy and the exact WAC task being attempted. Review current compatibility and known issues for that workload, rather than assuming that successful gateway sign-in proves every tool can run. Keep a policy decision separate from changing an execution setting.

DSE recommendation

Have the security and management owners review the required signer allowances and the intended managed-node scope. Use a representative test node with enforcement enabled. Record the initial policy and the WAC operations that must succeed, and agree on how denied activity will be investigated. Do not broaden the allow policy solely to clear an unexplained management error.

Verification

Run the selected management task and correlate its result with application-control observations and transferred module presence. Confirm the intended signer and file path before accepting an allowance. Test an unauthorized script or tool through the established policy-validation process. Record unsupported operations explicitly and preserve enforcement throughout the pilot.

Official references

Microsoft Learn: WDAC enforced infrastructure in Windows Admin Center. Source reviewed September 8, 2026.