Internet Explorer must be configured to use machine settings.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-223074	SRG-APP-000516	DTBI320-IE11	SV-223074r879887_rule	2023-12-01	2

Description
Users who change their Internet Explorer security settings could enable the execution of dangerous types of code from the Internet and websites listed in the Restricted Sites zone in the browser. This setting enforces consistent security zone settings to all users of the computer. Security zones control browser behavior at various websites and it is desirable to maintain a consistent policy for all users of a machine. This policy setting affects how security zone changes apply to different users. If you enable this policy setting, changes that one user makes to a security zone will apply to all users of that computer. If this policy setting is disabled or not configured, users of the same computer are allowed to establish their own security zone settings.

Description

Users who change their Internet Explorer security settings could enable the execution of dangerous types of code from the Internet and websites listed in the Restricted Sites zone in the browser. This setting enforces consistent security zone settings to all users of the computer. Security zones control browser behavior at various websites and it is desirable to maintain a consistent policy for all users of a machine. This policy setting affects how security zone changes apply to different users. If you enable this policy setting, changes that one user makes to a security zone will apply to all users of that computer. If this policy setting is disabled or not configured, users of the same computer are allowed to establish their own security zone settings.

ℹ️ Check
The policy value for Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer 'Security Zones: Use only machine settings' must be 'Enabled'. Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings Criteria: If the value "Security_HKLM_only" is REG_DWORD = 1, this is not a finding.

ℹ️ Check

The policy value for Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer 'Security Zones: Use only machine settings' must be 'Enabled'. Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings Criteria: If the value "Security_HKLM_only" is REG_DWORD = 1, this is not a finding.

✔️ Fix
Set the policy value for Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer 'Security Zones: Use only machine settings' to 'Enabled'.