SV-278680r1192832: Microsoft Defender AV must enable heuristics. | Microsoft Defender Antivirus STIG SCAP Benchmark

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

Microsoft Defender AV must enable heuristics.

Description

Discussion Text

Always-on protection consists of real-time protection, behavior monitoring, and heuristics to identify malware based on known suspicious and malicious activities.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-002624

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.windowsdefav:def:278680
# Microsoft Defender AV must enable heuristics.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# Verifies 'Turn on heuristics' is 'Enabled'
# 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\Scan').GetValueKind('DisableHeuristics').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan' -Name 'DisableHeuristics' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'DisableHeuristics') -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.windowsdefav:def:278680
$regPath = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan"
if (Test-Path $regPath) {
    $regValue = Get-ItemProperty -Path $regPath -Name DisableHeuristics -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    if ($regValue -and $regValue.DisableHeuristics -eq 0) {
        Write-Output "PASS"; exit 0
    }
}
Write-Output "FAIL"; exit 1

Remediation

Set the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> Microsoft Defender Antivirus >> Scan >> Turn on heuristics to "Enabled".