DTOO228 - Outlook - Disable Plain Text Options for outbound email.

Information

If outgoing mail is formatted in certain ways, for example if attachments are encoded in UUENCODE format, attackers might manipulate the messages for their own purposes. If UUENCODE formatting is used, an attacker could manipulate the encoded attachment to bypass content filtering software.
By default, Outlook 2007 automatically wraps plain text messages at 76 characters and uses the standard MIME format to encode attachments in plain text messages. However, these settings can be altered to allow e-mail to be read in plain text e-mail programs that use a non-standard line length or that cannot process MIME attachments.

Solution

The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 -> Tools \ Options -> Mail format -> Internet Formatting 'Plain text options' will be set to 'Disabled'.

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-18960r3_rule, STIG-ID|DTOO228, Vuln-ID|V-17761

Plugin: Windows

Control ID: 07d1fef6cfed7e56adc8e1a54c0ad46dc93146045fcd41d95a74340084e6d3f7