Skip to content

Exchange Internet-facing Send connectors must specify a Smart Host.

An XCCDF Rule

Description

<VulnDiscussion>When identifying a "Smart Host" for the email environment, a logical Send connector is the preferred method. A Smart Host acts as an Internet-facing concentrator for other email servers. Appropriate hardening can be applied to the Smart Host, rather than at multiple locations throughout the enterprise. Failure to identify a Smart Host could default to each email server performing its own lookups (potentially through protective firewalls). Exchange servers should not be Internet facing and should therefore not perform any Smart Host functions. When the Exchange servers are Internet facing, they must be configured to identify the Internet-facing server that is performing the Smart Host function.</VulnDiscussion><FalsePositives></FalsePositives><FalseNegatives></FalseNegatives><Documentable>false</Documentable><Mitigations></Mitigations><SeverityOverrideGuidance></SeverityOverrideGuidance><PotentialImpacts></PotentialImpacts><ThirdPartyTools></ThirdPartyTools><MitigationControl></MitigationControl><Responsibility></Responsibility><IAControls></IAControls>

ID
SV-221217r879633_rule
Severity
Medium
References
Updated



Remediation - Manual Procedure

Open the Exchange Management Shell and enter the following command:

Set-SendConnector <'IdentityName'> -SmartHosts <'IP Address of Smart Host'> -DNSRoutingEnabled $false   

Note: The <IdentityName> value must be in single quotes.