Links that invoke instances of IE from within an Office product must be blocked.

The Pop-up Blocker feature in Internet Explorer can be used to block most unwanted pop-up and pop-under windows from appearing. This functionality can be controlled separately for instances of Internet Explorer spawned by Office applications (for example, if a user clicks a link in an Office document or selects a menu option that loads a web page). If the Pop-up Blocker is disabled, disruptive and potentially dangerous pop-up windows could load and present a security risk.

Verify the policy value for Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2013 (Machine) -> Security Settings -> IE Security "Block popups" must be "Enabled" and 'spdesign.exe' is checked.

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

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_WEBOC_POPUPMANAGEMENT

Criteria: If the value spdesign.exe is REG_DWORD = 1, this is not a finding.

Set the policy value for Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office 2013 (Machine) -> Security Settings -> IE Security "Block popups" to "Enabled" and select 'spdesign.exe'.