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XCCDF
Microsoft Publisher 2013 STIG
Microsoft Publisher 2013 STIG
An XCCDF Benchmark
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15 rules organized in 15 groups
DTOO129 - Block Pop-Ups
1 Rule
Links that invoke instances of Internet Explorer from within an Office product must be blocked.
Medium Severity
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.
DTOO131 - Trust Bar Notifications
1 Rule
Trust Bar Notifications for unsigned application add-ins must be blocked.
Medium Severity
If an application is configured to require all add-ins to be signed by a trusted publisher, any unsigned add-ins the application loads will be disabled and the application will display the Trust Bar at the top of the active window. The Trust Bar contains a message informing users about the unsigned add-in. If a user is allowed to make the determination to allow an unsigned add-in, it increases the risk of malicious code being introduced onto the user's computer or the network.
DTOO304 - VBA Macro Warning settings
1 Rule
Warning Bar settings for VBA macros must be configured.
Medium Severity
When users open files containing VBA Macros, applications open the files with the macros disabled and displays the Trust Bar with a warning that macros are present and have been disabled. Users may then enable these macros by clicking Options on the Trust Bar and selecting the option to enable them. Disabling or not configuring this setting may allow dangerous macros to become active on the user's computer or the network.
DTOO126 - Add-on Management
1 Rule
Add-on Management functionality must be allowed.
Medium Severity
Internet Explorer add-ons are pieces of code, run in Internet Explorer, to provide additional functionality. Rogue add-ons may contain viruses or other malicious code. Disabling or not configuring this setting could allow malicious code or users to become active on user computers or the network. For example, a malicious user can monitor and then use keystrokes users type into Internet Explorer. Even legitimate add-ons may demand resources, compromising the performance of Internet Explorer, and the operating systems for the user's computer.
DTOO209 - Zone Elevation Protection
1 Rule
Protection from zone elevation must be enforced.
Medium Severity
Internet Explorer places restrictions on each web page users can use the browser to open. Web pages on a user's local computer have the fewest security restrictions and reside in the Local Machine zone, making this security zone a prime target for malicious users and code. Disabling or not configuring this setting could allow pages in the Internet zone to navigate to pages in the Local Machine zone to then run code to elevate privileges. This could allow malicious code or users to become active on the user's computer or the network.
DTOO211 - Restrict ActiveX Install
1 Rule
ActiveX Installs must be configured for proper restriction.
Medium Severity
Microsoft ActiveX controls allow unmanaged, unprotected code to run on the user computers. ActiveX controls do not run within a protected container in the browser like the other types of HTML or Microsoft Silverlight-based controls. Disabling or not configuring this setting does not block prompts for ActiveX control installations and these prompts display to users. This could allow malicious code to become active on the user's computer or the network.
DTOO132 - Restrict File Download
1 Rule
File Downloads must be configured for proper restrictions.
Medium Severity
Disabling this setting allows websites to present file download prompts via code without the user specifically initiating the download. User preferences may also allow the download to occur without prompting or interaction with the user. Even if Internet Explorer prompts the user to accept the download, some websites abuse this functionality. Malicious websites may continually prompt users to download a file or present confusing dialog boxes to trick users into downloading or running a file. If the download occurs and it contains malicious code, the code could become active on the user's computer or the network.
DTOO127 - Add-ins are signed by Trusted Publisher
1 Rule
Add-ins to Office applications must be signed by a Trusted Publisher.
Medium Severity
Office 2013 applications do not check the digital signature on application add-ins before opening them. Disabling or not configuring this setting may allow an application to load a dangerous add-in. As a result, malicious code could become active on the user's computer or the network.
DTOO322 - Prompt files to open instead of blocking
1 Rule
Fatally corrupt files must be blocked from opening.
Medium Severity
Enabling this setting allows a user to open fatally corrupt Publisher 2013 files. As a result, malicious code or users could become active on the user's computer or the network. For example, a malicious user may purposely corrupt a Publisher file. The corrupted file could force the application to fail or execute malicious code, giving the malicious user control of Publisher 2013.
DTOO323 - Publisher Automation Security Level
1 Rule
The Publisher Automation Security Level must be configured for high security.
Medium Severity
When a separate application is used to launch Publisher 2013 programmatically, any macros can run in the programmatically-opened application without being blocked. Disabling or not configuring this setting could allow a malicious user to use automation to run malicious code in Publisher 2013.
DTOO111 - Enable IE Bind to Object
1 Rule
The Internet Explorer Bind to Object functionality must be enabled.
Medium Severity
Internet Explorer performs a number of safety checks before initializing an ActiveX control. It will not initialize a control if the kill bit for the control is set in the registry, or if the security settings for the zone in which the control is located do not allow it to be initialized. 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). A security risk could occur if potentially dangerous controls are allowed to load.
DTOO117 - Saved from URL
1 Rule
The Saved from URL mark must be selected to enforce Internet zone processing.
Medium Severity
Typically, when Internet Explorer loads a web page from a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) share that contains a Mark of the Web (MOTW) comment, indicating the page was saved from a site on the Internet, Internet Explorer runs the page in the Internet security zone instead of the less restrictive Local Intranet security zone. 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 Internet Explorer does not evaluate the page for a MOTW, potentially dangerous code could be allowed to run.
DTOO123 - Block Navigation to URL from Office
1 Rule
Navigation to URLs embedded in Office products must be blocked.
Medium Severity
To protect users from attacks, Internet Explorer usually does not attempt to load malformed URLs. 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 Internet Explorer attempts to load a malformed URL, a security risk could occur.
DTOO124 - Scripted Window Security
1 Rule
Scripted Window Security must be enforced.
Medium Severity
Malicious websites often try to confuse or trick users into giving a site permission to perform an action allowing the site to take control of the users' computer in some manner. Disabling or not configuring this setting allows unknown websites to: -Create browser windows appearing to be from the local operating system. -Draw active windows displaying outside of the viewable areas of the screen capturing keyboard input. -Overlay parent windows with their own browser windows to hide important system information, choices or prompts.
DTOO104 - Disable user name and password
1 Rule
Disabling of user name and password syntax from being used in URLs must be enforced.
Medium Severity
The Uniform Resource Locator (URL) standard allows user authentication to be included in URL strings in the form http://username:password@example.com. A malicious user might use this URL syntax to create a hyperlink that appears to open a legitimate website but actually opens a deceptive (spoofed) website. For example, the URL http://www.wingtiptoys.com@example.com appears to open http://www.wingtiptoys.com but actually opens http://example.com. To protect users from such attacks, Internet Explorer usually blocks any URLs using this syntax. 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 user names and passwords in URLs are allowed, users could be diverted to dangerous web pages, which would pose a security risk.