Title

Documents must be configured to not open as Read Write when browsing. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

By default, when an Office 2013 document on a web server is opened using Internet Explorer, the appropriate application opens the file in read-only mode. However, if the default configuration is changed, the document is opened as read/write. Users could potentially make changes to documents and resave them in situations where the web server security is not configured to prevent such changes.

Check Content

Verify the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Office 2013 >> Tools | Options | General | Web Options... >> Files "Open Office documents as read/write while browsing" is set to "Disabled". Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\15.0\common\internet If the value “OpenDocumentsReadWriteWhileBrowsing” for every user profile hive is REG_DWORD = 0, this is not a finding.

Fix Text

Set the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Office 2013 >> Tools | Options | General | Web Options... >> Files "Open Office documents as read/write while browsing" to "Disabled".

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-52714r5_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-17759

Group Title:

Expert Comments

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