SV-37916r1: System audit logs must have mode 0640 or less permissive. | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Security Technical Implementation Guide

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

System audit logs must have mode 0640 or less permissive.

Description

Discussion Text

If a user can write to the audit logs, audit trails can be modified or destroyed and system intrusion may not be detected. System audit logs are those files generated from the audit system and do not include activity, error, or other log files created by application software.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000163

Additional Details

Responsibility

System Administrator

IA Controls

ECTP-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.

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 Definition: oval:mil.disa.fso.rhel11:def:173
if [ ! -f /etc/audit/auditd.conf ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
grep -q '^log_file *= *' /etc/audit/auditd.conf || echo "PASS"; exit 0
for log_file in $(grep '^log_file *= *' /etc/audit/auditd.conf | sed -e's/^[ \t\n\r]*log_file[ \t]*=[ \t]*\([^ \t\n\r]*\).*/\1/'); do
  if [ ! -w "$log_file" ] && [ ! -r "$log_file" ] && [ ! -x "$log_file" ]; then echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
done
echo "FAIL"; exit 1

Remediation

Change the mode of the audit log directories/files.
# chmod 0750 <audit directory>
# chmod 0640 <audit file>