Customize exploit protection (Microsoft)

Exploit protection automatically applies a number of exploit mitigation techniques on both the operating system processes and on individual apps.

Configure these settings using the Windows Security app on an individual device. Then, export the configuration as an XML file so you can deploy to other devices. Use Group Policy to distribute the XML file to multiple devices at once. You can also configure the mitigations with PowerShell.

This article lists each of the mitigations available in exploit protection. It indicates whether the mitigation can be applied system-wide or to individual apps, and provides a brief description of how the mitigation works.

It also describes how to enable or configure the mitigations using Windows Security, PowerShell, and mobile device management (MDM) configuration service providers (CSPs). This is the first step in creating a configuration that you can deploy across your network. The next step involves generating, exporting, importing, and deploying the configuration to multiple devices.

Exploit protection mitigations

All mitigations can be configured for individual apps. Some mitigations can also be applied at the operating system level.

You can set each of the mitigations on, off, or to their default value. Some mitigations have additional options that are indicated in the description in the table.

Default values are always specified in brackets at the Use default option for each mitigation. In the following example, the default for Data Execution Prevention is “On”.

The Use default configuration for each of the mitigation settings indicates our recommendation for a base level of protection for everyday usage for home users. Enterprise deployments should consider the protection required for their individual needs and may need to modify configuration away from the defaults.

For the associated PowerShell cmdlets for each mitigation, see the PowerShell reference table at the bottom of this article.

Configure system-level mitigations with the Windows Security app

1. Open the Windows Security app by selecting the shield icon in the task bar or searching the start menu for Windows Security.
2. Select the App & browser control tile (or the app icon on the left menu bar) and then select Exploit protection.
3. Under the System settings section, find the mitigation you want to configure and select one of the following. Apps that aren’t configured individually in the Program settings section will use the settings configured here:
   • On by default – The mitigation is enabled for apps that don’t have this mitigation set in the app-specific Program settings section
   • Off by default – The mitigation is disabled for apps that don’t have this mitigation set in the app-specific Program settings section
   • Use default – The mitigation is either enabled or disabled, depending on the default configuration that is set up by Windows 10 or Windows 11 installation; the default value (On or Off) is always specified next to the Use default label for each mitigation

    Note

   You may see a User Account Control window when changing some settings. Enter administrator credentials to apply the setting.

   Changing some settings may require a restart.

4. Repeat this for all the system-level mitigations you want to configure.
5. Go to the Program settings section and choose the app you want to apply mitigations to:
   1. If the app you want to configure is already listed, select it and then select Edit
   2. If the app isn’t listed, at the top of the list select Add program to customize and then choose how you want to add the app:
      • Use Add by program name to have the mitigation applied to any running process with that name. You must specify a file with an extension. You can enter a full path to limit the mitigation to only the app with that name in that location.
      • Use Choose exact file path to use a standard Windows Explorer file picker window to find and select the file you want.
6. After selecting the app, you’ll see a list of all the mitigations that can be applied. To enable the mitigation, select the check box and then change the slider to On. Select any additional options. Choosing Audit will apply the mitigation in audit mode only. You will be notified if you need to restart the process or app, or if you need to restart Windows.
7. Repeat these steps for all the apps and mitigations you want to configure. Select Apply when you’re done setting up your configuration.

You can now export these settings as an XML file or continue on to configure app-specific mitigations.

Exporting the configuration as an XML file allows you to copy the configuration from one device onto other devices.

PowerShell reference

You can use the Windows Security app to configure Exploit protection, or you can use PowerShell cmdlets.

The configuration settings that were most recently modified will always be applied – regardless of whether you use PowerShell or Windows Security. This means that if you use the app to configure a mitigation, then use PowerShell to configure the same mitigation, the app will update to show the changes you made with PowerShell. If you were to then use the app to change the mitigation again, that change would apply.

You can use the PowerShell verb Get or Set with the cmdlet ProcessMitigation. Using Get will list the current configuration status of any mitigations that have been enabled on the device – add the -Name cmdlet and app exe to see mitigations for just that app:

Get-ProcessMitigation -Name processName.exe

Use Set to configure each mitigation in the following format:

Set-ProcessMitigation -<scope> <app executable> -<action> <mitigation or options>,<mitigation or options>,<mitigation or options>

Where:

• <Scope>:
  • -Name to indicate the mitigations should be applied to a specific app. Specify the app’s executable after this flag.
  • -System to indicate the mitigation should be applied at the system level
• <Action>:
  • -Enable to enable the mitigation
  • -Disable to disable the mitigation
• <Mitigation>:
  • The mitigation’s cmdlet as defined in the mitigation cmdlets table below, along with any suboptions (surrounded with spaces). Each mitigation is separated with a comma.

For example, to enable the Data Execution Prevention (DEP) mitigation with ATL thunk emulation and for an executable called testing.exe in the folder C:\Apps\LOB\tests, and to prevent that executable from creating child processes, you’d use the following command:

Set-ProcessMitigation -Name c:\apps\lob\tests\testing.exe -Enable DEP, EmulateAtlThunks, DisallowChildProcessCreation

If you wanted to apply DEP at the system level, you’d use the following command:

Set-Processmitigation -System -Enable DEP

To disable mitigations, you can replace -Enable with -Disable. However, for app-level mitigations, this will force the mitigation to be disabled only for that app.

If you need to restore the mitigation back to the system default, you need to include the -Remove cmdlet as well, as in the following example:

Set-Processmitigation -Name test.exe -Remove -Disable DEP

You can also set some mitigations to audit mode. Instead of using the PowerShell cmdlet for the mitigation, use the Audit mode cmdlet as specified in the mitigation cmdlets table below.

For example, to enable Arbitrary Code Guard (ACG) in audit mode for the testing.exe used previously, you’d use the following command:

Set-ProcessMitigation -Name c:\apps\lob\tests\testing.exe -Enable AuditDynamicCode

You can disable audit mode by using the same command but replacing -Enable with -Disable.

PowerShell reference table

This table lists the PowerShell cmdlets (and associated audit mode cmdlet) that can be used to configure each mitigation.

[1]: Use the following format to enable EAF modules for dlls for a process:

Set-ProcessMitigation -Name processName.exe -Enable EnableExportAddressFilterPlus -EAFModules dllName1.dll,dllName2.dll

[2]: Audit for this mitigation is not available via PowerShell cmdlets.

Customize the notification

For more information about customizing the notification when a rule is triggered and blocks an app or file, see Windows Security.

Source : Official Microsoft Brand
Editor by : BEST Antivirus KBS Team