id: os_photos_enhanced_search_disable
title: Disable Photos Enhanced Visual Search
discussion: |-
  Enhanced Visual Search _MUST_ be disabled in the Photos app.

  The information system _MUST_ be configured to provide only essential capabilities. Disabling Enhanced Visual Search will mitigate the risk of unwanted data being sent to Apple.
references:
  nist:
    cce:
      macos_27:
        - CCE-XXXXX-X
      macos_26:
        - CCE-95254-9
      macos_15:
        - CCE-94522-0
    800-53r5:
      - AC-20
      - AC-20(1)
      - CM-7
      - CM-7(1)
      - SC-7(10)
    800-171r3:
      - 03.01.20
      - 03.04.06
  disa:
    cmmc:
      - AC.L1-3.1.20
      - CM.L2-3.4.6
      - CM.L2-3.4.7
  hhs:
    hicp:
      - 2.L.A
      - 4.L.A
      - 4.L.B
platforms:
  macOS:
    '27.0': {}
    '26.0': {}
    '15.0': {}
    enforcement_info:
      check:
        shell: |-
          /usr/bin/osascript -l JavaScript << EOS
          $.NSUserDefaults.alloc.initWithSuiteName('com.apple.photos.shareddefaults')\
          .objectForKey('IPXDefaultEnhancedVisualSearchEnabled').js
          EOS
        result:
          string: 'false'
    introduced: '-1'
tags:
  - 800-53r5_low
  - 800-53r5_moderate
  - 800-53r5_high
  - 800-171
  - cmmc_lvl2
  - cmmc_lvl1
  - cnssi-1253_moderate
  - cnssi-1253_low
  - cnssi-1253_high
  - hicp_lp
mobileconfig_info:
  - PayloadType: com.apple.photos.shareddefaults
    PayloadContent:
      - IPXDefaultEnhancedVisualSearchEnabled: false
