Document metadata for password protected files must be protected.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-17768	DTOO188 - Office System	SV-33467r1_rule		Medium

Description
When an Office Open XML document is protected with a password and saved, any metadata associated with the document is encrypted along with the rest of the document's contents. If this configuration is changed, potentially sensitive information such as the document author and hyperlink references could be exposed to unauthorized people.

STIG	Date
Microsoft Office System 2010 STIG	2018-04-04

Details

Check Text ( C-33950r1_chk )
The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2010 -> Security Settings “Protect document metadata for password protected files” must be set to “Enabled”. Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\14.0\common\security Criteria: If the value OpenXMLEncryptProperty is REG_DWORD = 1, this is not a finding.

Check Text ( C-33950r1_chk )

The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2010 -> Security Settings “Protect document metadata for password protected files” must be set to “Enabled”.

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

HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\14.0\common\security

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

Fix Text (F-29639r1_fix)
Set the policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2010 -> Security Settings “Protect document metadata for password protected files” to “Enabled”.