Rights managed Office Open XML files must be protected.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-238026	DTOO187	SV-238026r879800_rule		Medium

Description
This policy setting determines whether metadata is encrypted in Office Open XML files that are protected by Information Rights Management (IRM). If you enable this policy setting, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word encrypt metadata stored in rights-managed Office Open XML files and override any configuration changes on users' computers. If you disable this policy setting, Office 2016 applications cannot encrypt metadata in rights-managed Office Open XML files, which can reduce security. If you do not configure this policy setting, when Information Rights Management (IRM) is used to restrict access to an Office Open XML document, any metadata associated with the document is not encrypted.

Description

This policy setting determines whether metadata is encrypted in Office Open XML files that are protected by Information Rights Management (IRM). If you enable this policy setting, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word encrypt metadata stored in rights-managed Office Open XML files and override any configuration changes on users' computers. If you disable this policy setting, Office 2016 applications cannot encrypt metadata in rights-managed Office Open XML files, which can reduce security. If you do not configure this policy setting, when Information Rights Management (IRM) is used to restrict access to an Office Open XML document, any metadata associated with the document is not encrypted.

STIG	Date
Microsoft Office System 2016 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2024-02-21

Details

Check Text ( C-41236r650643_chk )
Verify the policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2016 -> Security Settings "Protect document metadata for rights managed Office Open XML Files" is set to "Enabled". Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.0\common\security Criteria: If the value DRMEncryptProperty is REG_DWORD = 1, this is not a finding.

Check Text ( C-41236r650643_chk )

Verify the policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2016 -> Security Settings "Protect document metadata for rights managed Office Open XML Files" is set to "Enabled".

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

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

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

Fix Text (F-41195r650644_fix)
Set the policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2016 -> Security Settings "Protect document metadata for rights managed Office Open XML Files" to "Enabled".