Google Chrome Current Windows Security Technical Implementation Guide
V001.013R1 2019-10-25       U_Google_Chrome_Windows_V1R13_STIG_SCAP_1-2_Benchmark.xml
The Google Chrome Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) is published as a tool to improve the security of Department of Defense (DoD) information systems. Comments or proposed revisions to this document should be sent via e-mail to the following address: [email protected]
Vuln Rule Version CCI Severity Title Description
SV-57545r4_rule DTBC-0001 CCI-001414 MEDIUM Firewall traversal from remote host must be disabled. Remote connections should never be allowed that bypass the firewall, as there is no way to verify if they can be trusted. Enables usage of STUN and relay servers when remote clients are trying to establish a connection to this machine. If this setting is enabled, then remote clients can discover and connect to this machine even if they are separated by a firewall. If this setting is disabled and outgoing UDP connections are filtered by the firewall, then this machine will only allow connections from client machines within the local network. If this policy is left not set the setting will be enabled.
SV-57547r2_rule DTBC-0003 CCI-000381 LOW Sites ability for showing desktop notifications must be disabled. Chrome by default allows websites to display notifications on the desktop. This check allows you to set whether or not this is permitted. Displaying desktop notifications can be allowed by default, denied by default or the user can be asked every time a website wants to show desktop notifications. If this policy is left not set, 'AskNotifications' will be used and the user will be able to change it. 1 = Allow sites to show desktop notifications 2 = Do not allow any site to show desktop notifications 3 = Ask every time a site wants to show desktop notifications
SV-57553r2_rule DTBC-0004 CCI-000381 MEDIUM Sites ability to show pop-ups must be disabled. Chrome allows you to manage whether unwanted pop-up windows appear. Pop-up windows that are opened when the end user clicks a link are not blocked. If you enable this policy setting, most unwanted pop-up windows are prevented from appearing. If you disable this policy setting, pop-up windows are not prevented from appearing. If you disable this policy setting, scripts can continue to create pop-up windows, and pop-ups that hide other windows. Recommend configuring this setting to ‘2’ to help prevent malicious websites from controlling the pop-up windows or fooling users into clicking on the wrong window. If you do not configure this policy setting, most unwanted pop-up windows are prevented from appearing. If this policy is left not set, 'BlockPopups' will be used and the user will be able to change it. 1 = Allow all sites to show pop-ups 2 = Do not allow any site to show pop-ups
SV-57557r2_rule DTBC-0002 CCI-001166 MEDIUM Site tracking users location must be disabled. Website tracking is the practice of gathering information as to which websites were accesses by a browser. The common method of doing this is to have a website create a tracking cookie on the browser. If the information of what sites are being accessed is made available to unauthorized persons, this violates confidentiality requirements, and over time poses a significant OPSEC issue. This policy setting allows you to set whether websites are allowed to track the user’s physical location. Tracking the user’s physical location can be allowed by default, denied by default or the user can be asked every time a website requests the physical location. 1 = Allow sites to track the user’s physical location 2 = Do not allow any site to track the user’s physical location 3 = Ask whenever a site wants to track the user’s physical location
SV-57561r2_rule DTBC-0005 CCI-001687 MEDIUM Extensions installation must be blacklisted by default. Extensions are developed by third party sources and are designed to extend Google Chrome's functionality. An extension can be made by anyone, to do and access almost anything on a system; this means they pose a high risk to any system that would allow all extensions to be installed by default. Allows you to specify which extensions the users can NOT install. Extensions already installed will be removed if blacklisted. A blacklist value of '*' means all extensions are blacklisted unless they are explicitly listed in the whitelist. If this policy is left not set the user can install any extension in Google Chrome.
SV-57563r2_rule DTBC-0006 CCI-001170 MEDIUM Extensions that are approved for use must be whitelisted. The whitelist should only contain organizationally approved extensions. This is to prevent a user from accidently whitelisitng a malicious extension. This policy allows you to specify which extensions are not subject to the blacklist. A blacklist value of ‘*’ means all extensions are blacklisted and users can only install extensions listed in the whitelist. By default, no extensions are whitelisted. If all extensions have been blacklisted by policy, then the whitelist policy can be used to allow specific extensions to be installed. Administrators should determine which extensions should be allowed to be installed by their users. If no extensions are whitelisted, then no extensions can be installed when combined with blacklisting all extensions.
SV-57567r2_rule DTBC-0007 CCI-000381 MEDIUM The default search providers name must be set. Specifies the name of the default search provider that is to be used, if left empty or not set, the host name specified by the search URL will be used. This policy is only considered if the 'DefaultSearchProviderEnabled' policy is enabled. When doing internet searches it is important to use an encrypted connection via https.
SV-57571r3_rule DTBC-0009 CCI-000381 MEDIUM Default search provider must be enabled. Policy enables the use of a default search provider. If you enable this setting, a default search is performed when the user types text in the omnibox that is not a URL. You can specify the default search provider to be used by setting the rest of the default search policies. If these are left empty, the user can choose the default provider. If you disable this setting, no search is performed when the user enters non-URL text in the omnibox. If you enable or disable this setting, users cannot change or override this setting in Google Chrome. If this policy is left not set, the default search provider is enabled, and the user will be able to set the search provider list.
SV-57575r4_rule DTBC-0011 CCI-000381 MEDIUM The Password Manager must be disabled. Enables saving passwords and using saved passwords in Google Chrome. Malicious sites may take advantage of this feature by using hidden fields gain access to the stored information. If you enable this setting, users can have Google Chrome memorize passwords and provide them automatically the next time they log in to a site. If you disable this setting, users are not able to save passwords or use already saved passwords. If you enable or disable this setting, users cannot change or override this setting in Google Chrome. If this policy is left not set, this will be enabled but the user will be able to change it. ListPassword manager should not be used as it stores passwords locally.
SV-57579r2_rule DTBC-0013 CCI-001240 HIGH The running of outdated plugins must be disabled. Running outdated plugins could lead to system compromise through the use of known exploits. Having plugins that updated to the most current version ensures the smallest attack surfuce possible. If you enable this setting, outdated plugins are used as normal plugins. If you disable this setting, outdated plugins will not be used and users will not be asked for permission to run them. If this setting is not set, users will be asked for permission to run outdated plugins.
SV-57585r2_rule DTBC-0015 CCI-000166 LOW Third party cookies must be blocked. Third party cookies are cookies which can be set by web page elements that are not from the domain that is in the browser's address bar. Enabling this setting prevents cookies from being set by web page elements that are not from the domain that is in the browser's address bar. Disabling this setting allows cookies to be set by web page elements that are not from the domain that is in the browser's address bar and prevents users from changing this setting. If this policy is left not set, third party cookies will be enabled but the user will be able to change that.
SV-57587r2_rule DTBC-0017 CCI-001695 MEDIUM Background processing must be disabled. Determines whether a Google Chrome process is started on OS login that keeps running when the last browser window is closed, allowing background apps to remain active. The background process displays an icon in the system tray and can always be closed from there. If this policy is set to True, background mode is enabled and cannot be controlled by the user in the browser settings. If this policy is set to False, background mode is disabled and cannot be controlled by the user in the browser settings. If this policy is left unset, background mode is initially disabled and can be controlled by the user in the browser settings.' - Google Chrome Administrators Policy ListThis setting, if enabled, allows Google Chrome to run at all times. There is two reasons that this is not wanted. First, it can tie up system resources that might otherwise be needed. Second, it does not make it obvious to the user that it is running and poorly written extensions could cause instability on the system.
SV-57591r3_rule DTBC-0019 CCI-000366 MEDIUM 3D Graphics APIs must be disabled. Disable support for 3D graphics APIs. Enabling this setting prevents web pages from accessing the graphics processing unit (GPU). Specifically, web pages cannot access the WebGL API and plugins cannot use the Pepper 3D API. Disabling this setting or leaving it not set potentially allows web pages to use the WebGL API and plugins to use the Pepper 3D API. The default settings of the browser may still require command line arguments to be passed in order to use these APIs. Chrome uses WebGL to render graphics using the GPU. There are few sites that currently take advantage of this feature. Since there is unlikely to be an operational impact, it is recommended that this feature is turned off in order to reduce the attack surface.
SV-57593r2_rule DTBC-0020 CCI-002333 MEDIUM Google Data Synchronization must be disabled. Disables data synchronization in Google Chrome using Google-hosted synchronization services and prevents users from changing this setting. If you enable this setting, users cannot change or override this setting in Google Chrome. If this policy is left not set the user will be able to enable Google Sync. Google Sync is used to sync information between different user devices, this data is then stored on Google owned servers. The synced data may consist of information such as email, calendars, viewing history, etc. This feature must be disabled because the organization does not have control over the servers the data is stored on.
SV-57595r3_rule DTBC-0021 CCI-000381 MEDIUM The URL protocol schema javascript must be disabled. Each access to a URL is handled by the browser according to the URL's "scheme". The "scheme" of a URL is the section before the ":". The term "protocol" is often mistakenly used for a "scheme". The difference is that the scheme is how the browser handles a URL and the protocol is how the browser communicates with a service. If a scheme or its associated protocol used by a browser is insecure or obsolete, vulnerabilities can be exploited resulting in exposed data or unrestricted access to the browser's system. The browser must be configured to disable the use of insecure and obsolete schemas (protocols). This policy disables the listed protocol schemes in Google Chrome, URLs using a scheme from this list will not load and cannot be navigated to. If this policy is left not set or the list is empty all schemes will be accessible in Google Chrome.
SV-57599r2_rule DTBC-0023 CCI-002333 MEDIUM Cloud print sharing must be disabled. Policy enables Google Chrome to act as a proxy between Google Cloud Print and legacy printers connected to the machine. If this setting is enabled or not configured, users can enable the cloud print proxy by authentication with their Google account. If this setting is disabled, users cannot enable the proxy, and the machine will not be allowed to share it’s printers with Google Cloud Print. If this policy is not set, this will be enabled but the user will be able to change it.
SV-57603r8_rule DTBC-0025 CCI-000366 MEDIUM Network prediction must be disabled. Enables network prediction in Google Chrome and prevents users from changing this setting. If you enable or disable this setting, users cannot change or override this setting in Google Chrome. If this policy is left not set, this will be disabled but the user will be able to change it.
SV-57605r3_rule DTBC-0026 CCI-000381 MEDIUM Metrics reporting to Google must be disabled. Enables anonymous reporting of usage and crash-related data about Google Chrome to Google and prevents users from changing this setting. If you enable this setting, anonymous reporting of usage and crash-related data is sent to Google. A crash report could contain sensitive information from the computer's memory. If you disable this setting, anonymous reporting of usage and crash-related data is never sent to Google. If you enable or disable this setting, users cannot change or override this setting in Google Chrome. If this policy is left not set the setting will be what the user chose upon installation / first run.
SV-57607r2_rule DTBC-0027 CCI-000381 MEDIUM Search suggestions must be disabled. Search suggestion should be disabled as it could lead to searches being conducted that were never intended to be made. Enables search suggestions in Google Chrome's omnibox and prevents users from changing this setting. If you enable this setting, search suggestions are used. If you disable this setting, search suggestions are never used. If you enable or disable this setting, users cannot change or override this setting in Google Chrome. If this policy is left not set, this will be enabled but the user will be able to change it.
SV-57609r4_rule DTBC-0029 CCI-000381 MEDIUM Importing of saved passwords must be disabled. Importing of saved passwords should be disabled as it could lead to unencrypted account passwords stored on the system from another browser to be viewed. This policy forces the saved passwords to be imported from the previous default browser if enabled. If enabled, this policy also affects the import dialog. If disabled, the saved passwords are not imported. If it is not set, the user may be asked whether to import, or importing may happen automatically.
SV-57611r2_rule DTBC-0030 CCI-000166 MEDIUM Incognito mode must be disabled. Incognito mode allows the user to browse the Internet without recording their browsing history/activity. From a forensics perspective, this is unacceptable. Best practice requires that browser history is retained. The "IncognitoModeAvailability" setting controls whether the user may utilize Incognito mode in Google Chrome. If 'Enabled' is selected or the policy is left unset, pages may be opened in Incognito mode. If 'Disabled' is selected, pages may not be opened in Incognito mode. If 'Forced' is selected, pages may be opened ONLY in Incognito mode. 0 = Incognito mode available. 1 = Incognito mode disabled. 2 = Incognito mode forced.
SV-57623r2_rule DTBC-0037 CCI-000185 MEDIUM Online revocation checks must be done. By setting this policy to true, the previous behavior is restored and online OCSP/CRL checks will be performed. If the policy is not set, or is set to false, then Chrome will not perform online revocation checks. Certificates are revoked when they have been compromised or are no longer valid, and this option protects users from submitting confidential data to a site that may be fraudulent or not secure.
SV-57625r3_rule DTBC-0038 CCI-001166 MEDIUM Safe Browsing must be enabled, Enables Google Chrome's Safe Browsing feature and prevents users from changing this setting. If you enable this setting, Safe Browsing is always active. If you disable this setting, Safe Browsing is never active. If you enable or disable this setting, users cannot change or override this setting in Google Chrome. If this policy is left not set, this will be enabled but the user will be able to change it. Safe browsing uses a signature database to test sites when they are be loaded to ensure they don't contain any known malware.
SV-57627r2_rule DTBC-0039 CCI-001199 MEDIUM Browser history must be saved. This policy disables saving browser history in Google Chrome and prevents users from changing this setting. If this setting is enabled, browsing history is not saved. If this setting is disabled or not set, browsing history is saved.
SV-57629r5_rule DTBC-0040 CCI-001687 MEDIUM Default behavior must block webpages from automatically running plugins. This policy allows you to set whether websites are allowed to automatically run the Flash plugin. Automatically running the Flash plugin can be either allowed for all websites or denied for all websites. If this policy is left not set, the user will be able to change this setting manually. 1 = Allow all sites to automatically run Flash plugin 2 = Block the Flash plugin 3 = Click to play
SV-57633r5_rule DTBC-0045 CCI-000166 MEDIUM Session only based cookies must be disabled. Policy allows you to set a list of URL patterns that specify sites which are allowed to set session only cookies. If this policy is left not set the global default value will be used for all sites either from the 'DefaultCookiesSetting' policy if it is set, or the user's personal configuration otherwise. If the 'RestoreOnStartup' policy is set to restore URLs from previous sessions this policy will not be respected and cookies will be stored permanently for those sites.
SV-89845r2_rule DTBC-0052 CCI-001687 MEDIUM Deletion of browser history must be disabled. Disabling this function will prevent users from deleting their browsing history, which could be used to identify malicious websites and files that could later be used for anti-virus and Intrusion Detection System (IDS) signatures. Furthermore, preventing users from deleting browsing history could be used to identify abusive web surfing on government systems.
SV-94633r2_rule DTBC-0053 CCI-001687 MEDIUM Prompt for download location must be enabled. If the policy is enabled, the user will be asked where to save each file before downloading. If the policy is disabled, downloads will start immediately, and the user will not be asked where to save the file. If the policy is not configured, the user will be able to change this setting.
SV-94635r1_rule DTBC-0055 CCI-001687 MEDIUM Download restrictions must be configured. Configure the type of downloads that Google Chrome will completely block, without letting users override the security decision. If you set this policy, Google Chrome will prevent certain types of downloads, and will not let user bypass the security warnings. When the "Block dangerous downloads" option is chosen, all downloads are allowed, except for those that carry SafeBrowsing warnings. When the "Block potentially dangerous downloads" option is chosen, all downloads allowed, except for those that carry SafeBrowsing warnings of potentially dangerous downloads. When the "Block all downloads" option is chosen, all downloads are blocked. When this policy is not set, (or the "No special restrictions" option is chosen), the downloads will go through the usual security restrictions based on SafeBrowsing analysis results. Note that these restrictions apply to downloads triggered from web page content, as well as the 'download link...' context menu option. These restrictions do not apply to the save / download of the currently displayed page, nor does it apply to saving as PDF from the printing options. See https://developers.google.com/safe-browsing for more info on SafeBrowsing. 0 = No special restrictions 1 = Block dangerous downloads 2 = Block potentially dangerous downloads 3 = Block all downloads
SV-96295r2_rule DTBC-0064 CCI-000381 MEDIUM Autoplay must be disabled. Allows you to control if videos can play automatically (without user consent) with audio content in Google Chrome. If the policy is set to “True”, Google Chrome is allowed to autoplay media. If the policy is set to “False”, Google Chrome is not allowed to autoplay media. The “AutoplayWhitelist” policy can be used to override this for certain URL patterns. By default, Google Chrome is not allowed to autoplay media. The “AutoplayWhitelist” policy can be used to override this for certain URL patterns.
SV-96297r3_rule DTBC-0056 CCI-002450 MEDIUM Chrome must be configured to allow only TLS. If this policy is not configured then Google Chrome uses a default minimum version, which is TLS 1.0. Otherwise, it may be set to one of the following values: "tls1", "tls1.1" or "tls1.2". When set, Google Chrome will not use SSL/TLS versions less than the specified version. An unrecognized value will be ignored. "tls1" = TLS 1.0 "tls1.1" = TLS 1.1 "tls1.2" = TLS 1.2
SV-96299r2_rule DTBC-0057 CCI-001166 MEDIUM Safe Browsing Extended Reporting must be disabled. Enables Google Chrome's Safe Browsing Extended Reporting and prevents users from changing this setting. Extended Reporting sends some system information and page content to Google servers to help detect dangerous apps and sites. If the setting is set to "True", then reports will be created and sent whenever necessary (such as when a security interstitial is shown). If the setting is set to "False", reports will never be sent. If this policy is set to "True" or "False", the user will not be able to modify the setting. If this policy is left unset, the user will be able to change the setting and decide whether to send reports or not.
SV-96301r1_rule DTBC-0058 CCI-000381 MEDIUM WebUSB must be disabled. Allows you to set whether websites are allowed to get access to connected USB devices. Access can be completely blocked, or the user can be asked every time a website wants to get access to connected USB devices. If this policy is left not set, ”3” will be used, and the user will be able to change it. 2 = Do not allow any site to request access to USB devices via the WebUSB API 3 = Allow sites to ask the user to grant access to a connected USB device
SV-96305r2_rule DTBC-0060 CCI-000169 MEDIUM Chrome Cleanup must be disabled. If set to “False”, prevents Chrome Cleanup from scanning the system for unwanted software and performing cleanups. Manually triggering Chrome Cleanup from chrome://settings/cleanup is disabled. If set to “True” or unset, Chrome Cleanup periodically scans the system for unwanted software and should any be found, will ask the user if they wish to remove it. Manually triggering Chrome Cleanup from chrome://settings is enabled. This policy is not available on Windows instances that are not joined to a Microsoft® Active Directory® domain.
SV-96307r2_rule DTBC-0061 CCI-000169 MEDIUM Chrome Cleanup reporting must be disabled. If unset, should Chrome Cleanup detect unwanted software, it may report metadata about the scan to Google in accordance with policy set by “SafeBrowsingExtendedReportingEnabled”. Chrome Cleanup will then ask the user if they wish to clean up the unwanted software. The user can choose to share results of the cleanup with Google to assist with future unwanted software detection. These results contain file metadata and registry keys as described by the Chrome Privacy Whitepaper. If set to “false”, should Chrome Cleanup detect unwanted software, it will not report metadata about the scan to Google, overriding any policy set by “SafeBrowsingExtendedReportingEnabled”. Chrome Cleanup will ask the user if they wish to clean up the unwanted software. Results of the cleanup will not be reported to Google and the user will not have the option to do so. If set to “true”, should Chrome Cleanup detect unwanted software, it may report metadata about the scan to Google in accordance with policy set by “SafeBrowsingExtendedReportingEnabled”. Chrome Cleanup will ask the user if they wish to clean up the unwanted software. Results of the cleanup will be reported to Google and the user will not have the option to prevent it. This policy is not available on Windows instances that are not joined to a Microsoft® Active Directory® domain.
SV-96311r2_rule DTBC-0063 CCI-000381 MEDIUM Google Cast must be disabled. If this policy is set to ”True” or is not set, Google Cast will be enabled, and users will be able to launch it from the app menu, page context menus, media controls on Cast-enabled websites, and (if shown) the “Cast toolbar” icon. If this policy set to ”False”, Google Cast will be disabled.
SV-101303r1_rule DTBC-0066 CCI-001166 MEDIUM Anonymized data collection must be disabled. Enable URL-keyed anonymized data collection in Google Chrome and prevent users from changing this setting. URL-keyed anonymized data collection sends URLs of pages the user visits to Google to make searches and browsing better. If you enable this policy, URL-keyed anonymized data collection is always active. If you disable this policy, URL-keyed anonymized data collection is never active. If this policy is left not set, URL-keyed anonymized data collection will be enabled but the user will be able to change it.
SV-101305r1_rule DTBC-0067 CCI-001166 MEDIUM Collection of WebRTC event logs must be disabled. If the policy is set to “true”, Google Chrome is allowed to collect WebRTC event logs from Google services (e.g., Google Meet), and upload those logs to Google. If the policy is set to “false”, or is unset, Google Chrome may not collect nor upload such logs. These logs contain diagnostic information helpful when debugging issues with audio or video calls in Chrome, such as the time and size of sent and received RTP packets, feedback about congestion on the network, and metadata about time and quality of audio and video frames. These logs do not contain audio or video contents from the call. This data collection by Chrome can only be triggered by Google's web services, such as Google Hangouts or Google Meet.