SV-223049r960963: Enabling outdated ActiveX controls for Internet Explorer must be blocked. | Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 STIG SCAP Benchmark

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

Enabling outdated ActiveX controls for Internet Explorer must be blocked.

Description

Discussion Text

This feature keeps ActiveX controls up to date and helps make them safer to use in Internet Explorer. Many ActiveX controls are not automatically updated as new versions are released. It is very important to keep ActiveX controls up to date because malicious or compromised webpages can target security flaws in out-of-date ActiveX controls.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000381SV-87397V-72759

References

DPMS Target Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 DISA DPMS Target Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 4095

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.fso.ie:def:586
# Enabling outdated ActiveX controls for Internet Explorer must be blocked.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# Block enabling outdated ActiveX controls for Internet Explorer
# 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\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Ext').GetValueKind('VersionCheckEnabled').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Ext' -Name 'VersionCheckEnabled' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'VersionCheckEnabled') -eq 1))
}

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

SCC Assessment

The automated check DISA's SCAP Compliance Checker runs to assess this control. Pick a release below to see exactly what it evaluates on the target system.

SCC version

Not available for this version yet.

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_ie11 target this check assesses.

# OVAL Definition: oval:mil.disa.fso.ie:def:586
$registryPath = "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Ext"
$registryValue = "VersionCheckEnabled"
$expectedValue = 1

if (-not (Test-Path -Path $registryPath)) { exit 0 }
$regValue = Get-ItemProperty -Path $registryPath -Name $registryValue -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
if ($regValue -eq $null -or $regValue.$registryValue -ne $expectedValue) { exit 0 }
exit 1

Remediation

In the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> Internet Explorer >> Security Features >> Add-on Management, set "Turn off blocking of outdated ActiveX controls for Internet Explorer" to "Disabled".