Accessing data sources across domains must be disallowed (Internet zone).

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-223021	SRG-APP-000039	DTBI032-IE11	SV-223021r879534_rule	2023-12-01	2

Description
The ability to access data zones across domains could cause the user to unknowingly access content hosted on an unauthorized server. Access to data sources across multiple domains must be controlled based upon the site being browsed. This policy setting allows you to manage whether Internet Explorer can access data from another security zone using the Microsoft XML Parser (MSXML) or ActiveX Data Objects (ADO).

Description

The ability to access data zones across domains could cause the user to unknowingly access content hosted on an unauthorized server. Access to data sources across multiple domains must be controlled based upon the site being browsed. This policy setting allows you to manage whether Internet Explorer can access data from another security zone using the Microsoft XML Parser (MSXML) or ActiveX Data Objects (ADO).

ℹ️ Check
The policy value for Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer -> Internet Control Panel -> Security Page -> Internet Zone -> 'Access data sources across domains' must be 'Enabled', and 'Disable' selected from the drop-down box. Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\3 Criteria: If the value "1406" is REG_DWORD = 3, this is not a finding.

ℹ️ Check

The policy value for Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer -> Internet Control Panel -> Security Page -> Internet Zone -> 'Access data sources across domains' must be 'Enabled', and 'Disable' selected from the drop-down box. Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\3 Criteria: If the value "1406" is REG_DWORD = 3, this is not a finding.

✔️ Fix
Set the policy value for Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer -> Internet Control Panel -> Security Page -> Internet Zone -> 'Access data sources across domains' to 'Enabled', and select 'Disable' from the drop-down box.