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V-278658

CAT II (Medium)

Microsoft Defender AV must control whether exclusions are visible to Local Admins.

Rule ID

SV-278658r1190746_rule

STIG

Microsoft Defender Antivirus Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V2R8

CCIs

CCI-001170

Discussion

Disabled (Default): If this setting is not configured or disabled, local admins can see exclusions in the Windows Security App or via PowerShell. Enabled: If this setting is enabled, local admins no longer see the exclusion list in Windows Security App or via PowerShell.O13. Note: Applying this setting will not remove exclusions, it only prevents them from being visible to local admins. This is reflected in?Get-MpPreference.I13.

Check Content

Verify the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> Microsoft Defender Antivirus >> Control whether or not exclusions are visible to Local Admins is set to "Enabled"; otherwise, this is a finding.

Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: 
HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender

Criteria: If the value "HideExclusionsFromLocalAdmins" is REG_DWORD = 1, this is not a finding.

If the value is "0", this is a finding.

Fix Text

Set the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> Microsoft Defender Antivirus >> Control whether exclusions are visible to Local Admins to "Enabled".