Title

Auditing must be configured as required. (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. Collecting this data is essential for analyzing the security of information assets and detecting signs of suspicious and unexpected behavior.

Check Content

Verify the configuration of the audit subcategories listed below. The Auditpol.exe tool must be used to view the detailed audit policy. Security Option "Audit: Force audit policy subcategory settings (Windows Vista or later) to override audit policy category settings" must be set to "Enabled" (V-14230) for the detailed auditing subcategories to be effective. The major audit categories in Local Policies will not be effective. Open a Command Prompt with elevated privileges. (Run as administrator). Enter "AuditPol /get /category:*". If auditing is not configured for at least Success and/or Failure as listed below, this is a finding. Subcategories not listed are not required but may be configured as needed by the site. System Security System Extension - Success and Failure System Integrity - Success and Failure IPSec Driver - Success and Failure Security State Change - Success and Failure Logon/Logoff Logon - Success and Failure Logoff - Success Special Logon - Success Privilege Use Sensitive Privilege Use - Success and Failure Detailed Tracking Process Creation - Success Policy Change Audit Policy Change - Success and Failure Authentication Policy Change - Success Account Management User Account Management - Success and Failure Computer Account Management - Success and Failure Security Group Management - Success and Failure Other Account Management Events - Success and Failure Account Logon Credential Validation - Success and Failure

Fix Text

Configure the system to audit subcategories as outlined below. Open a Command Prompt with elevated privileges. (Run as administrator). Execute the following command for each subcategory. Auditpol /set /subcategory:"subcategory name" /success:enable(disable) /failure:enable(disable) (Include the quotes around the subcategory name). System Security System Extension - Success and Failure System Integrity - Success and Failure IPSec Driver - Success and Failure Security State Change - Success and Failure Logon/Logoff Logon - Success and Failure Logoff - Success Special Logon - Success Privilege Use Sensitive Privilege Use - Success and Failure Detailed Tracking Process Creation - Success Policy Change Audit Policy Change - Success and Failure Authentication Policy Change - Success Account Management User Account Management - Success and Failure Computer Account Management - Success and Failure Security Group Management - Success and Failure Other Account Management Events - Success and Failure Account Logon Credential Validation - Success and Failure

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-16966r3_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-6850

Group Title: Auditing Configuration

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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