Document metadata for password protected files must be protected.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-228547	DTOO188	SV-228547r508020_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 2013 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2020-09-25

Details

Check Text ( C-30780r498919_chk )
Verify the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Office 2013 >> Security Settings "Protect document metadata for password protected files" is set to "Enabled". Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\15.0\common\security If the value 'OpenXMLEncryptProperty' is REG_DWORD = 1, this is not a finding.

Check Text ( C-30780r498919_chk )

Verify the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Office 2013 >> Security Settings "Protect document metadata for password protected files" is set to "Enabled".

Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\15.0\common\security

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

Fix Text (F-30765r498920_fix)
Set the policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2013 -> Security Settings "Protect document metadata for password protected files" to "Enabled".