Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) must enable File Content Analysis.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-275994	SRG-APP-000279	MSDE-00-001250	SV-275994r1119724_rule	2025-07-15	1

Description
Malicious code protection mechanisms include, but are not limited to, antivirus and malware detection software. To minimize potential negative impact to the organization that can be caused by malicious code, it is imperative that malicious code is identified and eradicated. Content analysis submits suspicious files identified by Automated investigation to the cloud for additional inspection. Only files with the specified extension names will be submitted.

Description

Malicious code protection mechanisms include, but are not limited to, antivirus and malware detection software. To minimize potential negative impact to the organization that can be caused by malicious code, it is imperative that malicious code is identified and eradicated. Content analysis submits suspicious files identified by Automated investigation to the cloud for additional inspection. Only files with the specified extension names will be submitted.

ℹ️ Check
Access the MDE portal as a user with at least an MDE Administrator or equivalent role: 1. In the navigation pane, select Settings >> Endpoints >> Automation uploads (under Rules). 2. Verify the slide bar for "File Content Analysis" is set to "On". If the slide bar for "File Content Analysis" is not set to "On", this is a finding.

✔️ Fix
Access the MDE portal as a user with at least an MDE Administrator or equivalent role: 1. In the navigation pane, select Settings >> Endpoints >> Automation uploads (under Rules). 2. Set the slide bar for "File Content Analysis" to "On".