Microsoft Defender AV must be configured block Office applications from creating executable content.
An XCCDF Rule
Description
<VulnDiscussion>This rule targets typical behaviors used by suspicious and malicious add-ons and scripts (extensions) that create or launch executable files. This is a typical malware technique. Extensions will be blocked from being used by Office apps. Typically these extensions use the Windows Scripting Host (.wsh files) to run scripts that automate certain tasks or provide user-created add-on features.</VulnDiscussion><FalsePositives></FalsePositives><FalseNegatives></FalseNegatives><Documentable>false</Documentable><Mitigations></Mitigations><SeverityOverrideGuidance></SeverityOverrideGuidance><PotentialImpacts></PotentialImpacts><ThirdPartyTools></ThirdPartyTools><MitigationControl></MitigationControl><Responsibility></Responsibility><IAControls></IAControls>
- ID
- SV-213458r823085_rule
- Severity
- Medium
- References
- Updated
Remediation - Manual Procedure
Set the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> Microsoft Defender Antivirus >> Windows Defender Exploit Guard >> Attack Surface Reduction >> "Configure Attack Surface Reduction rules" to "Enabled".
Click "Show...". Set the Value name to "3B576869-A4EC-4529-8536-B80A7769E899" and the Value to "1".