SV-213454r961161: Microsoft Defender AV must be configured to check for definition updates daily. | Microsoft Defender Antivirus STIG SCAP Benchmark

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

Microsoft Defender AV must be configured to check for definition updates daily.

Description

Discussion Text

This policy setting allows specifying the day of the week on which to check for definition updates. The check can also be configured to run every day or to never run at all. This setting can be configured with the following ordinal number values: (0x0) Every Day (default) (0x1) Sunday (0x2) Monday (0x3) Tuesday (0x4) Wednesday (0x5) Thursday (0x6) Friday (0x7) Saturday (0x8) Never If this setting is enabled, the check for definition updates will occur at the frequency specified. If this setting is disabled or not configured, the check for definition updates will occur at a default frequency.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-001308SV-89925V-75245

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:29
# Microsoft Defender AV must be configured to check for definition updates daily.
# 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\Signature Updates').GetValueKind('ScheduleDay').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Signature Updates' -Name 'ScheduleDay' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'ScheduleDay') -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:29
$compliant = (Test-Path -Path "HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Signature Updates\ScheduleDay" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -and ((Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Signature Updates\ScheduleDay" -Name ScheduleDay -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).ScheduleDay -eq 0)
if ($compliant) { Write-Output "PASS"; Exit 0 } else { Write-Output "FAIL"; Exit 1 }

Remediation

Set the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> Microsoft Defender Antivirus >> Signature Updates >> "Specify the day of the week to check for definition updates" to "Enabled" and select "Every Day" in the drop-down box.