Trust Bar Notifications for unsigned application add-ins in Access must be disabled and blocked.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-223281	O365-AC-000002	SV-223281r879584_rule		Medium

Description
This policy setting controls whether the specified Office application notifies users when unsigned application add-ins are loaded or silently disable such add-ins without notification. This policy setting only applies if you enable the "Require that application add-ins are signed by Trusted Publisher" policy setting, which prevents users from changing this policy setting. If you enable this policy setting, applications automatically disable unsigned add-ins without informing users. If you disable this policy setting, if this application is configured to require that all add-ins be signed by a trusted publisher, any unsigned add-ins the application loads will be disabled and the application will display the Trust Bar at the top of the active window. The Trust Bar contains a message that informs users about the unsigned add-in. If you do not configure this policy setting, the disable behavior applies, and in addition, users can configure this requirement themselves in the "Add-ins" category of the Trust Center for the application.

Description

This policy setting controls whether the specified Office application notifies users when unsigned application add-ins are loaded or silently disable such add-ins without notification. This policy setting only applies if you enable the "Require that application add-ins are signed by Trusted Publisher" policy setting, which prevents users from changing this policy setting. If you enable this policy setting, applications automatically disable unsigned add-ins without informing users. If you disable this policy setting, if this application is configured to require that all add-ins be signed by a trusted publisher, any unsigned add-ins the application loads will be disabled and the application will display the Trust Bar at the top of the active window. The Trust Bar contains a message that informs users about the unsigned add-in. If you do not configure this policy setting, the disable behavior applies, and in addition, users can configure this requirement themselves in the "Add-ins" category of the Trust Center for the application.

STIG	Date
Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus Security Technical Implementation Guide	2024-02-21

Details

Check Text ( C-24954r442062_chk )
Verify the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Access 2016 >> Application Settings >> Security >> Trust Center "Disable Trust Bar Notification for unsigned application add-ins and block them" is set to "Enabled". Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.0\access\security If the value NoTBPromptUnsignedAddin is REG_DWORD = 1, this is not a finding.

Check Text ( C-24954r442062_chk )

Verify the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Access 2016 >> Application Settings >> Security >> Trust Center "Disable Trust Bar Notification for unsigned application add-ins and block them" is set to "Enabled".

Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key:

HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.0\access\security

If the value NoTBPromptUnsignedAddin is REG_DWORD = 1, this is not a finding.

Fix Text (F-24942r442063_fix)
Set the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Access 2016 >> Application Settings >> Security >> Trust Center "Disable Trust Bar Notification for unsigned application add-ins and block them" to "Enabled".