STIGUI
V-223343CAT II — Medium severitySV-223343r961092_rule

File attachments from Outlook must be opened in Excel in Protected mode.

Rule version O365-EX-000034 · STIG v3 · 2026-02-12

Discussion

This policy setting allows you to determine if Excel files in Outlook attachments open in Protected View.

If you enable this policy setting, Outlook attachments do not open in Protected View.

If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, Outlook attachments open in Protected View.

Check

Verify the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Excel 2016 >> Excel Options >> Security >> Trust Center >> Protected View >> Turn off Protected View for attachments opened from Outlook is set to "Disabled".

Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key:

HKCU\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\security\protectedview

If the value DisableAttachmentsInPV is REG_DWORD = 0, this is not a finding.

Fix

Set policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Excel 2016 >> Excel Options >> Security >> Trust Center >> Protected View >> Turn off Protected View for attachments opened from Outlook to "Disabled".

Identifiers

Group ID
V-223343
Group title
SRG-APP-000210
Rule ID
SV-223343r961092_rule
Check ID
C-25016r442248_chk
Fix ID
F-25004r442249_fix