Title

The application must notify System Administrators and Information System Security Officers of account enabling 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 simply enable an existing account that has been previously disabled. Notification when account enabling actions occur is one method for mitigating this risk. A comprehensive account management process will ensure an audit trail which documents the enabling of application user accounts and notifies administrators and Information System Security Officers (ISSO) exists. Such a process greatly reduces the risk that accounts will be surreptitiously created 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 off-load those access control functions and focus on core application features and functionality.

Check Content

Review the application and system documentation. Interview 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 application is configured to notify system administrators when accounts are enabled by identifying system administrators who will be notified when accounts are enabled. Disable and then enable a test account and check with system administrator to verify notification was received to indicate the account was enabled. If system administrators and ISSOs are not notified when accounts are enabled, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the application to notify the system administrator and the ISSO when application accounts are enabled.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-222422r879697_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-222422

Group Title: SRG-APP-000320

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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