The Update of automatic links setting must be configured to prompt user before allowing links to be updated.
An XCCDF Rule
Description
<VulnDiscussion>If an Excel workbook contains links to other documents and users are not prompted to approve them, the contents of the workbook might change without the users' knowledge because the linked files have changed. This has the risk of introducing corrupt or malicious content into the document. Prompting the user to update links will allow the content to be updated only with the user's knowledge. </VulnDiscussion><FalsePositives></FalsePositives><FalseNegatives></FalseNegatives><Documentable>false</Documentable><Mitigations></Mitigations><SeverityOverrideGuidance></SeverityOverrideGuidance><PotentialImpacts></PotentialImpacts><ThirdPartyTools></ThirdPartyTools><MitigationControl></MitigationControl><Responsibility>System Administrator</Responsibility><Responsibility>Information Assurance Officer</Responsibility><IAControls></IAControls>
- ID
- SV-53815r1_rule
- Severity
- Medium
- References
- Updated
Remediation - Manual Procedure
Set the policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Excel 2013 -> Excel options -> Advanced -> "Ask to update automatic links" to "Enabled".