Passwords for secured documents must be enforced.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-228550	DTOO195	SV-228550r508020_rule		Medium

Description
If 2013 Office users add passwords to documents, other users can be prevented from opening the documents. This capability can provide an extra level of protection to documents already protected by access control lists, or provide a means of securing documents not protected by file-level security. By default, users can add passwords to Excel 2013 workbooks, PowerPoint 2013 presentations, and Word 2013 documents from the Save or Save As dialog box by clicking Tools, clicking General Options, and entering appropriate passwords to open or modify the documents. If this configuration is changed, the General Options dialog box for saving with a password will not be available for the user to password-protect their documents.

Description

If 2013 Office users add passwords to documents, other users can be prevented from opening the documents. This capability can provide an extra level of protection to documents already protected by access control lists, or provide a means of securing documents not protected by file-level security. By default, users can add passwords to Excel 2013 workbooks, PowerPoint 2013 presentations, and Word 2013 documents from the Save or Save As dialog box by clicking Tools, clicking General Options, and entering appropriate passwords to open or modify the documents. If this configuration is changed, the General Options dialog box for saving with a password will not be available for the user to password-protect their documents.

STIG	Date
Microsoft Office System 2013 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2020-09-25

Details

Check Text ( C-30783r498928_chk )
Verify the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Office 2013 >> Security Settings "Disable password to open UI" is set to "Disabled". Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\15.0\common\security If the value 'DisablePasswordUI' is REG_DWORD = 0, this is not a finding. Fix Text: Set the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Office 2013 >> Security Settings "Disable password to open UI" to "Disabled".

Check Text ( C-30783r498928_chk )

Verify the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Office 2013 >> Security Settings "Disable password to open UI" is set to "Disabled".

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

If the value 'DisablePasswordUI' is REG_DWORD = 0, this is not a finding.

Fix Text: Set the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Office 2013 >> Security Settings "Disable password to open UI" to "Disabled".

Fix Text (F-30768r498929_fix)
Set the policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2013 -> Security Settings "Disable password to open UI" to "Disabled".