Title

The macOS system must be configured so that log folders do not contain access control lists (ACLs). (Cat II impact)

Discussion

The audit service must be configured to create log folders with the correct permissions to prevent normal users from reading audit logs. Audit logs contain sensitive data about the system and users. If log folders 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 without ACLs applied to log folders with the following command: /usr/bin/sudo /bin/ls -lde $(/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/grep '^dir' /etc/security/audit_control | /usr/bin/awk -F: '{print $2}') In the output from the above command, ACLs will be listed under any folder that may contain them (e.g., "0: group:admin allow list,readattr,readextattr,readsecurity"). If any ACLs exists, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the macOS system so that log folders do not contain ACLs with the following command: /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod -N [audit log folder]

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-257159r905110_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-257159

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.