RPC encryption between Outlook and Exchange server must be enforced.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-228466	DTOO279	SV-228466r508021_rule		Medium

Description

This policy setting controls whether Outlook uses remote procedure call (RPC) encryption to communicate with Microsoft Exchange servers. If you enable this policy setting, Outlook uses RPC encryption when communicating with an Exchange server. Note - RPC encryption only encrypts the data from the Outlook client computer to the Exchange server. It does not encrypt the messages themselves as they traverse the Internet. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, RPC encryption is still used by default. This setting allows you to override the corresponding per-profile setting.

STIG	Date
Microsoft Outlook 2016 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2022-03-11

Details

Check Text (C-30699r497720_chk)

Verify the policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Outlook 2016 -> Account Settings -> Exchange "Enable RPC encryption" is set to "Enabled".

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

HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.0\outlook\rpc

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

Fix Text (F-30684r497721_fix)

Set the policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Outlook 2016 -> Account Settings -> Exchange "Enable RPC encryption" to "Enabled".