PDF labeling is enabled in SharePoint

Overview

When PDF labeling is disabled (the default) in SharePoint, PDF files can’t be labeled or display existing labels, which creates a protection gap. Unlike Office files, PDFs can circulate externally without visible classification markers, making it impossible for recipients to determine the handling requirements or for data loss prevention (DLP) policies to detect sensitive content.

Enabling PDF labeling for SharePoint and OneDrive extends sensitivity label support to PDFs, allowing users to apply labels by using Office for the web and SharePoint, and supports other labeling methods such as auto-labeling policies to classify PDF content automatically.

Remediation

• Enable sensitivity labels for PDF files in SharePoint and OneDrive

Run it

The check runs as part of the whole assessment, with the ZeroTrustAssessment module installed:

Install-Module ZeroTrustAssessment -Scope CurrentUser
Connect-Maester
Invoke-Maester -Pack ZTA -SkipBuiltIn

Leave out -SkipBuiltIn to run Maester’s own checks in the same run.

About this check

Severity	Medium
Effort to fix	Low
Impact on users	Low
Pillar	Data, AI
Category	SharePoint Online
Product	Purview
Feature	Information protection
Area	Data protection
Licence	RMS_S_PREMIUM, MIP_P1
Tenant	Workforce

Product, feature, area and ATT&CK are Maester’s: the assessment does not record them, so Maester keeps them in the pack’s taxonomy.json.

A Microsoft check, part of the Zero Trust Assessment pack. Text from ZeroTrustAssessment 3.1.0, © Microsoft, MIT licence.