Title

The macOS system must be configured with system log files set to mode 640 or less permissive. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

System logs should only be readable by root or admin users. System logs frequently contain sensitive information that could be used by an attacker. Setting the correct permissions mitigates this risk.

Check Content

The following commands check for log files that exist on the system and print the path to the log with the corresponding permissions. Run them from inside "/var/log": /usr/bin/sudo stat -f '%A:%N' $(/usr/bin/grep -v '^#' /etc/newsyslog.conf | awk '{ print $1 }') 2> /dev/null /usr/bin/sudo stat -f '%A:%N' $(/usr/bin/grep -e '^>' /etc/asl.conf /etc/asl/* | awk '{ print $2 }') 2> /dev/null Each command may return zero or more files. If the permissions on log files are not "640" or less permissive, this is a finding.

Fix Text

For any log file that returns an incorrect permission value, run the following command: /usr/bin/sudo chmod 640 [log file] [log file] is the full path to the log file in question. If the file is managed by "newsyslog", find the configuration line in the directory "/etc/newsyslog.d/" or the file "/etc/newsyslog.conf" and edit the mode column to be "640" or less permissive. If the file is managed by "aslmanager", find the configuration line in the directory "/etc/asl/" or the file "/etc/asl.conf" and add or edit the mode option to be "mode=0640" or less permissive.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-252532r816493_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-252532

Group Title: SRG-OS-000206-GPOS-00084

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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