SV-213451r961092: Microsoft Defender AV must be configured to turn on e-mail scanning. | Microsoft Defender Antivirus STIG SCAP Benchmark

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

Microsoft Defender AV must be configured to turn on e-mail scanning.

Description

Discussion Text

This policy setting allows the configuration of e-mail scanning. When e-mail scanning is enabled, the engine will parse the mailbox and mail files according to their specific format in order to analyze the mail bodies and attachments. Several e-mail formats are currently supported, for example: pst (Outlook), dbx mbx mime (Outlook Express), binhex (Mac). If this setting is enabled, e-mail scanning will be enabled. If this setting is disabled or not configured, e-mail scanning will be disabled.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-001170SV-89919V-75239

References

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

Checks

DISA STIG (Manual Reference)

Verify the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> Microsoft Defender Antivirus >> Scan >> "Turn on e-mail scanning" is set to "Enabled".
  
Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: 
HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan

Criteria: If the value "DisableEmailScanning" is REG_DWORD = 0, this is not a finding.

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:26
# Microsoft Defender AV must be configured to turn on e-mail scanning.
# 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\Scan').GetValueKind('DisableEmailScanning').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan' -Name 'DisableEmailScanning' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'DisableEmailScanning') -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:26
if (-not (Test-Path -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan\DisableEmailScanning" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) { Write-Output "PASS"; exit 0 } else { $regValue = Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan\DisableEmailScanning" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue; if ($regValue.DisableEmailScanning -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 e-mail scanning" to "Enabled".