Title

The macOS system must be configured with audit log files set to mode 440 or less permissive. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

The audit service must be configured to create log files with the correct permissions to prevent normal users from reading audit logs. Audit logs contain sensitive data about the system and about users. If log files are set to be readable and writable only by root or administrative users with sudo, the risk is mitigated.

Check Content

Verify the macOS system is configured with audit log files set to mode 440 or less with the following command: /usr/bin/sudo /bin/ls -le $(/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/grep '^dir' /etc/security/audit_control | /usr/bin/awk -F: '{print $2}') | /usr/bin/grep -v current If the files are not mode 440 or less, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the macOS system with audit log files set to mode 440 with the following command: /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod 440 [audit log file]

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-257176r905161_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-257176

Group Title: SRG-OS-000057-GPOS-00027

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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