Does IE10 Enforce Credential Expiration for Zone-Based Integrated Authentication?

Internet Explorer 10 implements zone-based security with four default zones (Internet, Local Intranet, Trusted Sites, Restricted Sites). Integrated Windows authentication (NTLM/Kerberos) is supported for intranet sites, but the browser lacks a built-in mechanism for automatic credential expiration or rotation. Credentials are cached in memory and potentially in temporary files. This raises an unresolved question about least-privilege authentication: when cached credentials for an intranet site expire, what documented behavior governs their reuse across zones?

The uncertainty is compounded by zone elevation risks and the absence of modern protocols like OAuth 2.0 or OpenID Connect. Behavior may vary across Windows versions where IE10 was integrated, and legacy enterprise configurations may have modified default security settings. Verification would require testing on original Windows 8/8.1 systems, as later compatibility modes may alter behavior.

Specific questions: Does IE10 provide any zone-level setting to limit credential caching scope or enforce expiration? What happens when expired credentials are presented to a site in the Local Intranet zone—does the browser re-prompt, fail silently, or fall back to anonymous access? Can least-privilege authentication be achieved through zone configuration alone, or does it require external credential management?