SV-217948r603264: The system must set a maximum audit log file size. | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Security Technical Implementation Guide

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

The system must set a maximum audit log file size.

Description

Discussion Text

The total storage for audit log files must be large enough to retain log information over the period required. This is a function of the maximum log file size and the number of logs retained.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000366CCE-27550-3V-38633SV-50434

References

DPMS Target Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 DISA DPMS Target Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 4046

Checks

OVAL

oval:mil.disa.fso.redhat.rhel6:var:2136 ← xccdf_mil.disa.stig_value_var_auditd_max_log_file

DISA STIG (Manual Reference)

Inspect "/etc/audit/auditd.conf" and locate the following line to determine how much data the system will retain in each audit log file: "# grep max_log_file /etc/audit/auditd.conf" 

max_log_file = 6


If the system audit data threshold hasn't been properly set up, this is a finding.

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.redhat.rhel6:def:924
# The system must set a maximum audit log file size.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# max_log_file setting in auditd.conf
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_1() {
  [ "$(sed -En 's/^max_log_file\s*=\s*(\d+)\s*$/\1/p' '/etc/audit/auditd.conf')" -ge 6 ]
}

if test_1; 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.redhat.rhel6:def:924 audit log file size check

FILE="/etc/audit/auditd.conf"
if [ ! -f "$FILE" ]; then
  echo "PASS"
  exit 0
fi

if grep -qE "^max_log_file\\s*=\\s*(\\d+)$" "$FILE" && \
   awk -F'=' '{print $2}' <(grep -oE "^max_log_file\\s*=\\s*(\\d+)$" "$FILE") | \
   grep -qE "^[6-9]$"; then
  echo "PASS"
  exit 0
fi

echo "FAIL"
exit 1

Remediation

Determine the amount of audit data (in megabytes) which should be retained in each log file. Edit the file "/etc/audit/auditd.conf". Add or modify the following line, substituting the correct value for [STOREMB]: 

max_log_file = [STOREMB]

Set the value to "6" (MB) or higher for general-purpose systems. Larger values, of course, support retention of even more audit data.