ActiveX control initialization must be disabled.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-17547	DTOO191 - Office System	SV-33453r1_rule	ECSC-1	Medium

Description
ActiveX controls can adversely affect a computer directly. In addition, malicious code can be used to compromise an ActiveX control and attack a computer. To indicate the safety of an ActiveX control, developers can denote them as Safe For Initialization (SFI). SFI indicates a control is safe to open and run, and it is not capable of causing a problem for any computer, regardless of whether it has persisted data values or not. If a control is not marked SFI, it is possible the control could adversely affect a computer—or it could mean the developers did not test the control in all situations and are not sure whether it might be compromised in the future. By default, if a control is marked SFI, the application loads the control in safe mode and uses persisted values (if any). If the control is not marked SFI, the application loads the control in unsafe mode with persisted values (if any), or uses the default (first-time initialization) settings. In both situations, the Message Bar informs users the controls have been disabled and prompts them to respond.

Description

ActiveX controls can adversely affect a computer directly. In addition, malicious code can be used to compromise an ActiveX control and attack a computer. To indicate the safety of an ActiveX control, developers can denote them as Safe For Initialization (SFI). SFI indicates a control is safe to open and run, and it is not capable of causing a problem for any computer, regardless of whether it has persisted data values or not. If a control is not marked SFI, it is possible the control could adversely affect a computer—or it could mean the developers did not test the control in all situations and are not sure whether it might be compromised in the future. By default, if a control is marked SFI, the application loads the control in safe mode and uses persisted values (if any). If the control is not marked SFI, the application loads the control in unsafe mode with persisted values (if any), or uses the default (first-time initialization) settings. In both situations, the Message Bar informs users the controls have been disabled and prompts them to respond.

STIG	Date
Microsoft Office System 2010	2012-06-22

Details

Check Text ( C-33936r1_chk )
The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2010 -> Security Settings “ActiveX Control Initialization” must be set to “Disabled”. Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\Common\Security Criteria: If the value UFIControls exists, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-29625r1_fix)
Set the policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2010 -> Security Settings “ActiveX Control Initialization” to “Disabled”.