DTOO139 - Excel - Save files default format as backward compatible, not as XML.

Information

By default, Excel 2007 saves new workbooks in the Office Open XML format with an .xlsx extension. For users who run Excel 2000 with Service Pack 3, Excel 2002 with Service Pack 3, and Excel 2003 with at least Service Pack 1, Microsoft offers the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack, which enables these versions of Excel to open and save .xlsx files. If some users in your organization cannot install the Compatibility Pack, or are running versions of Excel older than Excel 2000 with Service Pack 3, these users might not be able to access Excel files saved in the .xlsx format.

Solution

The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office Excel 2007 -> Excel Options -> Save 'default file format' will be set to 'Enabled (Excel 97-2003 Workbook('.xls)' or 'Enabled (Excel Workbook *.xlsx').

See Also

http://iase.disa.mil/stigs/app_security/office_auto/u_microsoft_office2007_v4r9_stig_20121026.zip

Item Details

References: CAT|II, Rule-ID|SV-18606r3_rule, STIG-ID|DTOO139, Vuln-ID|V-17521

Plugin: Windows

Control ID: 7c9f2d5c7fa1e5292292d1428db85651e7a25c1a4dc3533b9636c4250c100086