Internet Explorer must be configured to disallow users to change policies.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-3428	DTBI319	SV-40552r1_rule	ECSC-1	Medium

Description
Users who change their Internet Explorer security settings could enable the execution of dangerous types of code from the Internet and web sites listed in the Restricted Sites zone in the browser. This setting prevents users from changing the Internet Explorer policies on the machine. Policy changes should be made by administrators only, so this setting should be enabled. If you enable this policy setting, you disable the Custom level button and Security level for this zone slider on the Security tab in the Internet Options dialog box. If this policy setting is disabled or not configured, users will be able to change the settings for security zones. It prevents users from changing security zone policy settings that are established by the administrator.

Description

Users who change their Internet Explorer security settings could enable the execution of dangerous types of code from the Internet and web sites listed in the Restricted Sites zone in the browser. This setting prevents users from changing the Internet Explorer policies on the machine. Policy changes should be made by administrators only, so this setting should be enabled. If you enable this policy setting, you disable the Custom level button and Security level for this zone slider on the Security tab in the Internet Options dialog box. If this policy setting is disabled or not configured, users will be able to change the settings for security zones. It prevents users from changing security zone policy settings that are established by the administrator.

STIG	Date
Internet Explorer 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2014-03-21

Details

Check Text ( http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5 )
The policy value for Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer “Security Zones: Do not allow users to change policies” must be “Enabled”. Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings Criteria: If the value Security_options_edit is REG_DWORD = 1, this is not a finding.

Check Text ( http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5 )

The policy value for Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer “Security Zones: Do not allow users to change policies” must be “Enabled”.

Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings

Criteria: If the value Security_options_edit is REG_DWORD = 1, this is not a finding.

Fix Text (F-34426r1_fix)
Set the policy value for Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer “Security Zones: Do not allow users to change policies” to “Enabled”.