SV-26519r1: The audit system must be configured to audit account creation. | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Security Technical Implementation Guide

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

The audit system must be configured to audit account creation.

Description

Discussion Text

If the system is not configured to audit certain activities and write them to an audit log, it is more difficult to detect and track system compromises, and damages incurred during a system compromise.

How this relates to the STIG checklist: STIG vs SCAP benchmark.

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000018

Additional Details

Responsibility

System Administrator

IA Controls

ECAT-1

References

DPMS Target Red Hat 5 DISA DPMS Target Red Hat 5 2154

SCC Automation Reference

The reconstructed evaluation script behind this rule's OVAL check(s) — every module a compound check combines, with this rule's own concrete values and DISA's SCC tool's real per-module mechanism curated from static teardown of SCC releases.

#!/bin/bash
# Reconstructed from oval:mil.disa.fso.rhel11:def:181
# The audit system must be configured to audit account creation.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# /etc/audit/audit.rules contains -w /usr/sbin/useradd
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_1() {
  grep -Pq '' '/etc/audit/audit.rules' &>/dev/null
}
# /etc/audit/audit.rules contains -w /usr/sbin/groupadd
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_2() {
  grep -Pq '' '/etc/audit/audit.rules' &>/dev/null
}
# /etc/audit/audit.rules contains -w /etc/passwd
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_3() {
  grep -Pq '' '/etc/audit/audit.rules' &>/dev/null
}
# /etc/audit/audit.rules contains -w /etc/group
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_4() {
  grep -Pq '' '/etc/audit/audit.rules' &>/dev/null
}
# /etc/audit/audit.rules contains -w /etc/shadow
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_5() {
  grep -Pq '' '/etc/audit/audit.rules' &>/dev/null
}
# /etc/audit/audit.rules contains -w /etc/gshadow
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_6() {
  grep -Pq '' '/etc/audit/audit.rules' &>/dev/null
}

if ( test_1 && test_2 && test_3 && test_4 && test_5 && test_6 ); then
  echo "PASS"
else
  echo "FAIL"
fi

Assessment Script Powered by AISandbox-executed

A standalone Shell script to assess this control automatically. Review before running it in your environment.

Syntax-checked and actually executed in an isolated sandbox (not the real system this checks) — confirmed to run without errors.

#!/bin/sh
# oval:mil.disa.fso.rhel11:def:181 compliance check
if [ ! -f "/etc/audit/audit.rules" ]; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
if ! grep -q "^-w \/usr\/sbin\/useradd -p x -k useradd" /etc/audit/audit.rules; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
if ! grep -q "^-w \/usr\/sbin\/groupadd -p x -k groupadd" /etc/audit/audit.rules; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
if ! grep -q "^-w \/etc\/passwd -p a -k passwd" /etc/audit/audit.rules; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
if ! grep -q "^-w \/etc\/shadow -p a -k shadow" /etc/audit/audit.rules; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
if ! grep -q "^-w \/etc\/group -p a -k group" /etc/audit/audit.rules; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
if ! grep -q "^-w \/etc\/gshadow -p a -k gshadow" /etc/audit/audit.rules; then echo "FAIL"; exit 1; fi
echo "PASS"; exit 0

Remediation

Configure execute auditing of the useradd and groupadd executables.
Add the following to audit.rules:
-w /usr/sbin/useradd -p x -k useradd
-w /usr/sbin/groupadd -p x -k groupadd
Configure append auditing of the passwd, shadow, group, and gshadow files.  Add the following to audit.rules:
-w /etc/passwd -p a -k passwd
-w /etc/shadow -p a -k shadow
-w /etc/group -p a -k group
-w /etc/gshadow -p a -k gshadow
Restart the auditd service.