SV-258080r1045162: RHEL 9 must configure SELinux context type to allow the use of a nondefault faillock tally directory. | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 STIG SCAP Benchmark

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

RHEL 9 must configure SELinux context type to allow the use of a nondefault faillock tally directory.

Description

Discussion Text

Not having the correct SELinux context on the faillock directory may lead to unauthorized access to the directory.

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

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-000044

References

DPMS Target Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 DISA DPMS Target Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 5551

Checks

DISA STIG (Manual Reference)

Verify the location of the nondefault tally directory for the pam_faillock module with the following command:

Note: If the system does not have SELinux enabled and enforcing a targeted policy, or if the pam_faillock module is not configured for use, this requirement is Not Applicable.

$ sudo grep -w dir /etc/security/faillock.conf

dir = /var/log/faillock

Check the security context type of the nondefault tally directory with the following command:

$ ls -Zd /var/log/faillock

unconfined_u:object_r:faillog_t:s0 /var/log/faillock

If the security context type of the nondefault tally directory is not "faillog_t", 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.stig.rhel9os:def:258080
# RHEL 9 must configure SELinux context type to allow the use of a nondefault faillock tally directory.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.
#
# MANUAL REVIEW REQUIRED -- the module(s) below could not be reconstructed
# into working code from curated SCC reference data, and are excluded from
# the automated result:
#   - selinuxsecuritycontext_object (selinuxsecuritycontext_test) -- configured faillock directory has correct selinux context: no extractor for field "type"

# /etc/security/faillock.conf dir option exists
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_2() {
  grep -Pq '^\s*dir\s*=\s*(.*)\s*$' '/etc/security/faillock.conf' &>/dev/null
}

if test_2; then
  echo "PASS (automated portion only -- MANUAL REVIEW still required, see notes above)"
else
  echo "FAIL (or see MANUAL REVIEW note above)"
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 definition: oval:mil.disa.stig.rhel9os:def:258080
if [ ! -f "/var/log/faillock" ]; then mkdir /var/log/faillock; fi
if [ ! -s "/etc/security/faillock.conf" ]; then echo "dir = /var/log/faillock" > /etc/security/faillock.conf; fi
if grep -q "^dir\\s*=\\s*/var/log/faillock$" /etc/security/faillock.conf; then \
    grep -q "^\\s*faillog_t\\s*$" /etc/selinux/targeted/contexts/files/file_contexts.local || echo "faillog_t" >> /etc/selinux/targeted/contexts/files/file_contexts.local; \
    echo "PASS"; exit 0; fi
echo "FAIL"; exit 1

Remediation

Configure RHEL 9 to allow the use of a nondefault faillock tally directory while SELinux enforces a targeted policy. 

First enable the feature using the following command:
 
$ sudo authselect enable-feature with-faillock 
 
Create a nondefault faillock tally directory (if it does not already exist) with the following example:

$ sudo mkdir /var/log/faillock

Then add/modify the "/etc/security/faillock.conf" file to match the following line:
 
dir = /var/log/faillock

Update the /etc/selinux/targeted/contexts/files/file_contexts.local with "faillog_t" context type for the nondefault faillock tally directory with the following command:

$ sudo semanage fcontext -a -t faillog_t "/var/log/faillock(/.*)?"

Next, update the context type of the nondefault faillock directory/subdirectories and files with the following command:

$ sudo restorecon -R -v /var/log/faillock