Title

SharePoint must protect audit information from unauthorized modification to trace data logs. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

If audit data were to become compromised then competent forensic analysis and discovery of the true source of potentially malicious system activity is impossible to achieve. To ensure the veracity of audit data the information system and/or SharePoint must protect audit information from unauthorized modification. SharePoint is an integrated product with comprehensive built-in auditing capabilities working with the Windows system event log. Additional trace logs and usage logs are created by the application and are placed in a designated folder. Logs of actions taken by users of site content (editing, modifying, viewing, deleting, etc.) are stored in a SQL database. Only designated audit administrators and internal accounts should have any type of permission to these files.

Check Content

Verify security permissions to log file are to authorized administrators only. 1. In Central Administration, click Monitoring. 2. On the Monitoring page, in the Reporting list, click Configure diagnostic logging. 3. Obtain the Path location for the Trace Log. 4. Navigate to the file location, right-click, and select Properties. View the Security tab. 5. Verify permissions include only the LOCAL SERVICE, WSS_ADMIN_WPG, WSS_RESTRICTED_WPG_V4, WSS_WPG, local Administrators group, and SYSTEM group.. 6. Mark as a finding if groups or users other than the LOCAL SERVICE, WSS_ADMIN_WPG, WSS_RESTRICTED_WPG_V4, WSS_WPG, local Administrators group, and SYSTEM group have permission to the log folder.

Fix Text

Change permissions to the directory where trace logs are stored. 1. In Central Administration, click Monitoring. 2. On the Monitoring page, in the Reporting list, click Configure diagnostic logging. 3. Obtain the path location for the Trace Log. 4. Navigate to the file location, right-click, and select Properties. View the Security tab. 5. Delete any groups or users other than the LOCAL SERVICE, WSS_ADMIN_WPG, WSS_RESTRICTED_WPG_V4, WSS_WPG, local Administrators group, and SYSTEM group from the permissions list.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-39940r2_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-30287

Group Title:

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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