MS.EXO.4.1v1 - A DMARC policy SHALL be published for every second-level domain.

Information

Without a DMARC policy available for each domain, recipients may improperly handle SPF and DKIM failures, possibly enabling spoofed emails to reach end users' mailboxes. Publishing DMARC records at the second-level domain protects the second-level domains and all subdomains.

Solution

DMARC is not configured through the Exchange admin center, but rather via
DNS records hosted by the agency's domain. As such, implementation varies
depending on how an agency manages its DNS records. See [Form the DMARC TXT record for your domain \\| Microsoft
Learn](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/office-365-security/email-authentication-dmarc-configure?view=o365-worldwide#step-4-form-the-dmarc-txt-record-for-your-domain)
for Microsoft guidance.

A DMARC record published at the second-level domain will protect all subdomains.
In other words, a DMARC record published for `example.com` will protect both
`a.example.com` and `b.example.com`, but a separate record would need to be
published for `c.example.gov`.

To test your DMARC configuration, consider using one of many publicly available
web-based tools. Additionally, DMARC records can be requested using the
PowerShell tool `Resolve-DnsName`. For example:

Resolve-DnsName _dmarc.example.com txt

If DMARC is configured, a response resembling `v=DMARC1; p=reject; pct=100; rua=mailto:[email protected], mailto:[email protected]; ruf=mailto:[email protected]`
will be returned, though by necessity, the contents of the record will vary
by agency. In this example, the policy indicates all emails failing the
SPF/DKIM checks are to be rejected and aggregate reports sent to
[email protected] and [email protected]. Failure reports will be
sent to [email protected].

See Also

https://github.com/cisagov/ScubaGear/tree/v1.8.0/

Item Details

Category: SYSTEM AND INFORMATION INTEGRITY

References: 800-53|SI-8

Plugin: microsoft_azure

Control ID: de35258643df2bd5065bd32246a434e448135e0619d5514e432e07fc57535b29