Title

The application must notify system administrators (SAs) and information system security officers (ISSOs) of account removal actions. (Cat III impact)

Discussion

Once an attacker establishes access to a system, the attacker often attempts to create a persistent method of re-establishing access. One way to accomplish this is for the attacker to remove an account. Notification of account removal is one method for mitigating this risk. A comprehensive account management process will ensure an audit trail which documents the removal of application user accounts and notifies administrators and ISSOs such accounts no longer exist. This type of process greatly reduces the risk that accounts will be surreptitiously removed and provides logging that can be used for forensic purposes. To address access requirements, many application developers choose to integrate their applications with enterprise-level authentication/access/auditing mechanisms that meet or exceed access control policy requirements. Such integration allows the application developer to offload those access control functions and focus on core application features and functionality.

Check Content

Review the application and system documentation. Interview the application administrator and determine if the application is configured to utilize a centralized user management system like Active Directory for user management or if the application manages user accounts within the application. If the application is configured to use an enterprise-based application user management capability that is STIG compliant, the requirement is Not Applicable. Ensure the application is configured to notify SAs when accounts are removed by identifying the SAs who will be notified when accounts are removed. Remove a test account and check with a SA to verify the notification was received. If SAs and ISSOs are not notified when accounts are removed, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the application to notify the SA and the ISSO when application accounts are removed.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-222420r1015687_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-222420

Group Title: SRG-APP-000294

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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