Word attachments opened from Outlook must be in Protected View.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-223405	SRG-APP-000207	O365-WD-000006	SV-223405r961086_rule	2025-03-05	3

Description
This policy setting allows you to determine if Word 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.

ℹ️ Check
Verify the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Word 2016 >> Word 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\word\security\protectedview If the value for disableattachmentsinpv is REG_DWORD = 0, this is not a finding.

ℹ️ Check

Verify the policy value for User Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Microsoft Word 2016 >> Word 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\word\security\protectedview If the value for disableattachmentsinpv is REG_DWORD = 0, this is not a finding.

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