Title

Block pop-ups for links that invoke instances of IE from within Word. (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 2007 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

Validate the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Office 2007 system (Machine) >> Security Settings >> IE Security “Block popups” is set to “Enabled” and "winword.exe" check box 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 winword.exe is REG_DWORD = 1, this is not a finding.

Fix Text

Set the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Office 2007 system (Machine) >> Security Settings >> IE Security “Block popups” to “Enabled” and select the "winword.exe" check box.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-18212r2_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-17184

Group Title:

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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