Title

Windows Server 2019 permissions for the System event log must prevent access by non-privileged accounts. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

Maintaining an audit trail of system activity logs can help identify configuration errors, troubleshoot service disruptions, and analyze compromises that have occurred, as well as detect attacks. Audit logs are necessary to provide a trail of evidence in case the system or network is compromised. The System event log may be susceptible to tampering if proper permissions are not applied. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000057-GPOS-00027, SRG-OS-000058-GPOS-00028, SRG-OS-000059-GPOS-00029

Check Content

Navigate to the System event log file. The default location is the "%SystemRoot%\System32\winevt\Logs" folder. However, the logs may have been moved to another folder. If the permissions for the "System.evtx" file are not as restrictive as the default permissions listed below, this is a finding: Eventlog - Full Control SYSTEM - Full Control Administrators - Full Control

Fix Text

Configure the permissions on the System event log file (System.evtx) to prevent access by non-privileged accounts. The default permissions listed below satisfy this requirement: Eventlog - Full Control SYSTEM - Full Control Administrators - Full Control The default location is the "%SystemRoot%\System32\winevt\Logs" folder. If the location of the logs has been changed, when adding Eventlog to the permissions, it must be entered as "NT Service\Eventlog".

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-205642r569188_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-205642

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.