1.1.37 Ensure 'Continue running background apps after Microsoft Edge closes' is set to 'Disabled'

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Information

This policy setting determines whether processes from Microsoft Edge may start at Operating System sign-in and continue running once an Edge browser window is closed. This allows background apps and the current browsing session to remain active, including any session cookies. An open background process displays an icon in the system tray and can always be closed from there.

The recommended state for this setting is: Disabled.

Rationale:

Allowing processes from the browser to run in the background could allow a malicious script or code to continue running even once the browser windows has been closed.

Impact:

The browser will close its processes and will not continue running as a background process.

Solution

To establish the recommended configuration via GP, set the following UI path to Disabled

Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Edge\Continue running background apps after Microsoft Edge closes

Note: This Group Policy path may not exist by default. It is provided by the Group Policy template MSEdge.admx/adml that can be downloaded from Microsoft here.

Default Value:

Disabled - But the user can configure its behavior in edge://settings/system.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/3907