Title

Disable the ability for users to Disable Trust Bar notifications for Security messages - Office (Cat II impact)

Discussion

The Message Bar in 2007 Office applications is used to identify security issues, such as unsigned macros or potentially unsafe add-ins. When such issues are detected, the application disables the unsafe feature or content and displays the Message Bar at the top of the active window. The Message Bar informs the users about the nature of the security issue and, in some cases, provides the users with an option to enable the potentially unsafe feature or content, which could harm the user's computer. By default, if a 2007 Office application detects a security issue, the Message Bar is displayed. However, this configuration can be modified by users in the Trust Center.

Check Content

The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2007 system -> Security Settings “Disable all Trust Bar notifications for security issues” will be set to “Disabled”. Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\TrustCenter Criteria: If the value TrustBar is REG_DWORD = 0, this is not a finding.

Fix Text

The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2007 system -> Security Settings “Disable all Trust Bar notifications for security issues” will be set to “Disabled”. "Note: Group Policy Administrative Templates are available from the www.microsoft.com download site. The MS Office 2007 System (Office12.adm) is included in the AdminTemplates.exe file. This template provides the mechanisms to incorporate Microsoft Office 2007 System policies via the Microsoft Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)." "Note: If the Microsoft Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) is not used to incorporate the remediation to this vulnerability the Microsoft Registry Editor (regedit.exe) may be used to create the registry key and value required."

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-18717r1_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-17590

Group Title:

Expert Comments

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