SV-226194r794440: Windows SmartScreen must be enabled on Windows 2012/2012 R2. | Microsoft Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 Domain Controller STIG SCAP Benchmark

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

Windows SmartScreen must be enabled on Windows 2012/2012 R2.

Description

Discussion Text

Windows SmartScreen helps protect systems from programs downloaded from the Internet that may be malicious. Warning a user before running downloaded unknown software, at minimum, will help prevent potentially malicious programs from executing.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000381CCE-23531-7SV-51747V-36707

References

DPMS Target Microsoft Windows Server 2012-2012 R2 DC DISA DPMS Target Microsoft Windows Server 2012-2012 R2 DC 4217

Checks

DISA STIG (Manual Reference)

This is applicable to unclassified systems; for other systems, this is NA.

If the following registry value does not exist or is not configured as specified, this is a finding:

Registry Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Registry Path: \SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System\

Value Name: EnableSmartScreen

Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0x00000001 (1) (Give user a warning…)
Or 0x00000002 (2) (Require approval…)

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.windows:def:4506
# Windows SmartScreen must be enabled on Windows 2012/2012 R2.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# Verifies 'Configure Windows SmartScreen' is set to 'Enabled' with 'Give user a warning...' selected or 'Require approval from an administrator...' selected
# 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\System').GetValueKind('EnableSmartScreen').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System' -Name 'EnableSmartScreen' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'EnableSmartScreen') -eq 1)) -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\System').GetValueKind('EnableSmartScreen').ToString()]) -eq 'reg_dword') -and (((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System' -Name 'EnableSmartScreen' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty 'EnableSmartScreen') -eq 2)))
}

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_windows_2012_and_2012_r2_dc target this check assesses.

# OVAL Definition: oval:mil.disa.fso.windows:def:4506
$compliant = (Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System" -Name "EnableSmartScreen" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).EnableSmartScreen -match 1,2
if ($compliant) { Write-Output "PASS"; Exit 0 } else { Write-Output "FAIL"; Exit 1 }

Remediation

Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> File Explorer >> "Configure Windows SmartScreen" to "Enabled" with either "Give user a warning before running downloaded unknown software" or "Require approval from an administrator before running downloaded unknown software" selected.   

Microsoft has changed this setting several times in the Windows 10 administrative templates, which will affect group policies in a domain if later templates are used.

v1607 of Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 changed the setting to only Enabled or Disabled without additional selections.  Enabled is effectively "Give user a warning…".

v1703 of Windows 10 or later administrative templates changed the policy name to "Configure Windows Defender SmartScreen", and the selectable options are "Warn" and "Warn and prevent bypass". When either of these are applied to a Windows 2012/2012 R2 system, it will configure the registry equivalent of "Give user a warning…").