Title

The macOS system must authenticate peripherals before establishing a connection. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

Without authenticating devices, unidentified or unknown devices may be introduced, thereby facilitating malicious activity. Peripherals include, but are not limited to, such devices as flash drives, external storage, and printers.

Check Content

To check that macOS is configured to require authentication to all system preference panes, use the following commands: /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/security authorizationdb read system.preferences | grep -A1 shared If what is returned does not include the following, this is a finding. <key>shared</key> <false/>

Fix Text

To ensure that authentication is required to access all system level preference panes use the following procedure: Copy the authorization database to a file using the following command: /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/security authorizationdb read system.preferences > ~/Desktop/authdb.txt edit the file to change: <key>shared</key> <true/> To read: <key>shared</key> <false/> Reload the authorization database with the following command: /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/security authorizationdb write system.preferences < ~/Desktop/authdb.txt

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-230828r855703_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-230828

Group Title: SRG-OS-000378-GPOS-00163

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

Controls tied to check. These are derived from the CCIs shown above.