Title

The macOS system must be configured with audit log folders owned by root. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

The audit service must be configured to create log files with the correct ownership 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 folders owned by root 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}') If the folders are not owned by root, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the macOS system with audit log folders owned by root with the following command: /usr/bin/sudo chown root [audit log folder]

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-257173r905152_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-257173

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.