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← Back to Canonical Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Security Technical Implementation Guide

V-238249

CAT II (Medium)

The Ubuntu operating system must be configured so that audit configuration files are not write-accessible by unauthorized users.

Rule ID

SV-238249r958444_rule

STIG

Canonical Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V2R4

CCIs

CCI-000171

Discussion

Without the capability to restrict which roles and individuals can select which events are audited, unauthorized personnel may be able to prevent the auditing of critical events. Misconfigured audits may degrade the system's performance by overwhelming the audit log. Misconfigured audits may also make it more difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.

Check Content

Verify that "/etc/audit/audit.rules", "/etc/audit/rules.d/*", and "/etc/audit/auditd.conf" files have a mode of "0640" or less permissive by using the following command: 
 
$ sudo ls -al /etc/audit/ /etc/audit/rules.d/ 
 
/etc/audit/: 
 
-rw-r-----   1 root root   804 Nov 25 11:01 auditd.conf 
 
-rw-r-----   1 root root  9128 Dec 27 09:56 audit.rules 
 
-rw-r-----   1 root root  9373 Dec 27 09:56 audit.rules.prev 
 
-rw-r-----   1 root root   127 Feb  7  2018 audit-stop.rules 
 
drwxr-x---   2 root root  4096 Dec 27 09:56 rules.d 
 
/etc/audit/rules.d/: 
 
-rw-r----- 1 root root 10357 Dec 27 09:56 stig.rules 
 
If "/etc/audit/audit.rule","/etc/audit/rules.d/*", or "/etc/audit/auditd.conf" file have a mode more permissive than "0640", this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure "/etc/audit/audit.rules", "/etc/audit/rules.d/*", and "/etc/audit/auditd.conf" files to have a mode of "0640" by using the following command: 
 
$ sudo chmod -R 0640 /etc/audit/audit*.{rules,conf} /etc/audit/rules.d/*