SV-213442r1260202: Microsoft Defender AV must monitor for incoming and outgoing files. | Microsoft Defender Antivirus STIG SCAP Benchmark

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

Microsoft Defender AV must monitor for incoming and outgoing files.

Description

Discussion Text

This policy setting allows the configuration of monitoring for incoming and outgoing files without having to turn off monitoring entirely. It is recommended for use on servers that have a lot of incoming and outgoing file activity but for performance reasons need to have scanning disabled for a particular scan direction. The appropriate configuration should be evaluated based on the server role. Note that this configuration is only honored for NTFS volumes. For any other file system type, full monitoring of file and program activity will be present on those volumes. The options for this setting are mutually exclusive: 0 = Scan incoming and outgoing files (default) 1 = Scan incoming files only 2 = Scan outgoing files only Any other value, or if the value does not exist, resolves to the default (0). If this setting is enabled, the specified type of monitoring will be enabled. If this setting is disabled or not configured, monitoring for incoming and outgoing files will be enabled.

How this relates to the STIG checklist: STIG vs SCAP benchmark.

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-002624SV-89901V-75221

References

DPMS Target Microsoft Defender Antivirus DISA DPMS Target Microsoft Defender Antivirus 3985

SCC Automation Reference

The reconstructed evaluation script behind this rule's OVAL check(s) — every module a compound check combines, with this rule's own concrete values and DISA's SCC tool's real per-module mechanism curated from static teardown of SCC releases.

# Windows PowerShell
# Reconstructed from oval:mil.disa.stig.defenderantivirus:def:17
# Microsoft Defender AV must monitor for incoming and outgoing files.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# registry_object (registry_test)
function test_1 {
  return ((((@{String='reg_sz';ExpandString='reg_expand_sz';Binary='reg_binary';DWord='reg_dword';MultiString='reg_multi_sz';QWord='reg_qword';None='reg_none'}[(Get-Item -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection').GetValueKind('RealtimeScanDirection').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection' -Name 'RealtimeScanDirection' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'RealtimeScanDirection') -eq 0)) -or (((@{String='reg_sz';ExpandString='reg_expand_sz';Binary='reg_binary';DWord='reg_dword';MultiString='reg_multi_sz';QWord='reg_qword';None='reg_none'}[(Get-Item -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Policy Manager').GetValueKind('RealtimeScanDirection').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Policy Manager' -Name 'RealtimeScanDirection' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'RealtimeScanDirection') -eq 0)))
}

if (test_1) {
  Write-Output "PASS"
} else {
  Write-Output "FAIL"
}

Assessment Script Powered by AISyntax-verified

A standalone PowerShell script to assess this control automatically. Review before running it in your environment.

Syntax-checked as valid PowerShell. Not executed here — running it for real needs the actual ms_defender_antivirus target this check assesses.

# OVAL Definition: oval:mil.disa.stig.defenderantivirus:def:17
if((Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -Name "RealtimeScanDirection" -ValueOnly).Value -eq 0 -or (Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Policy Manager" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -Name "RealtimeScanDirection" -ValueOnly).Value -eq 0){exit 1}else{exit 0}

Remediation

Set the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> Microsoft Defender Antivirus >> Real-time Protection >> "Configure monitoring for incoming and outgoing file and program activity" to "Enabled" with a policy option value of "bi-directional (full on-access)".