Document metadata for password protected files must be protected.
An XCCDF Rule
Description
<VulnDiscussion>When an Office Open XML document is protected with a password and saved, any metadata associated with the document is encrypted along with the rest of the document's contents. If this configuration is changed, potentially sensitive information such as the document author and hyperlink references could be exposed to unauthorized people. </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-33467r1_rule
- Severity
- Medium
- References
- Updated
Remediation - Manual Procedure
Set the policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2010 -> Security Settings “Protect document metadata for password protected files” to “Enabled”.