Title

Links that invoke instances of Internet Explorer from within an Office product must be blocked. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

The Pop-up Blocker feature in Internet Explorer can be used to block most unwanted pop-up and pop-under windows from appearing. This functionality can be controlled separately for instances of Internet Explorer spawned by Office applications (for example, if a user clicks a link in an Office document or selects a menu option that loads a web page). If the Pop-up Blocker is disabled, disruptive and potentially dangerous pop-up windows could load and present a security risk.

Check Content

Verify the policy value for Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2016 (Machine) -> Security Settings -> IE Security "Block popups" is set to "Enabled" and 'excel.exe' is checked. Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_WEBOC_POPUPMANAGEMENT Criteria: If the value excel.exe is REG_DWORD = 1, this is not a finding.

Fix Text

Set the policy value for Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2016 (Machine) -> Security Settings -> IE Security "Block popups" to "Enabled" and place a check in the 'excel.exe' check box.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-238177r879628_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-238177

Group Title: SRG-APP-000207

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

Controls tied to check. These are derived from the CCIs shown above.