Media Player is configured to allow automatic CODEC downloads.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-3481	5.061	SV-3481r1_rule	DCSL-1	Medium

Description
The Windows Media Player uses software components, referred to as CODECs, to play back media files. By default, when an unknown file type is opened with the Media Player it will search the Internet for the appropriate CODEC and automatically download it. To ensure platform consistency and to protect against new vulnerabilities associated with media types, all CODECs must be installed by the System Administrator.

Description

The Windows Media Player uses software components, referred to as CODECs, to play back media files. By default, when an unknown file type is opened with the Media Player it will search the Internet for the appropriate CODEC and automatically download it. To ensure platform consistency and to protect against new vulnerabilities associated with media types, all CODECs must be installed by the System Administrator.

STIG	Date
Windows XP Security Technical Implementation Guide	2013-07-03

Details

Check Text ( C-2049r1_chk )
If the following registry value doesn’t exist or its value is not set to 1, then this is a finding: Registry Hive: HKEY_Current_User Subkey: \Software\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsMediaPlayer\ Value Name: PreventCodecDownload Type: REG_DWORD Value: 1

Fix Text (F-5993r1_fix)
Configure the policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Media Player -> Playback “Prevent Codec Download” to “Enabled”.