Internet must not be included in Safe Zone for picture download in Outlook.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-223354	O365-OU-000009	SV-223354r879887_rule		Medium

Description
This policy setting controls whether pictures and external content in HTML e-mail messages from untrusted senders on the Internet are downloaded without Outlook users explicitly choosing to do so. If you enable this policy setting, Outlook will automatically download external content in all e-mail messages sent over the Internet and users will not be able to change the setting. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, Outlook does not consider the Internet a safe zone, which means that Outlook will not automatically download content from external servers unless the sender is included in the Safe Senders list. Recipients can choose to download external content from untrusted senders on a message-by-message basis.

Description

This policy setting controls whether pictures and external content in HTML e-mail messages from untrusted senders on the Internet are downloaded without Outlook users explicitly choosing to do so. If you enable this policy setting, Outlook will automatically download external content in all e-mail messages sent over the Internet and users will not be able to change the setting. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, Outlook does not consider the Internet a safe zone, which means that Outlook will not automatically download content from external servers unless the sender is included in the Safe Senders list. Recipients can choose to download external content from untrusted senders on a message-by-message basis.

STIG	Date
Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-08-31

Details

Check Text ( C-25027r836315_chk )
Verify the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Outlook 2016 >> Security >> Automatic Picture Download Settings >> Include Internet in Safe Zones for Automatic Picture Download is set to "Disabled". Use the Windows Registry to navigate to the following key: HKCU\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\outlook\options\mail If the value for Internet is set to REG_DWORD = 0, this is not a finding.

Check Text ( C-25027r836315_chk )

Verify the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Outlook 2016 >> Security >> Automatic Picture Download Settings >> Include Internet in Safe Zones for Automatic Picture Download is set to "Disabled".

Use the Windows Registry to navigate to the following key:

HKCU\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\outlook\options\mail

If the value for Internet is set to REG_DWORD = 0, this is not a finding.

Fix Text (F-25015r442282_fix)
Set the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Outlook 2016 >> Security >> Automatic Picture Download Settings >> Include Internet in Safe Zones for Automatic Picture Download to "Disabled".