STIGhubSTIGhub
STIGsSearchCompare

STIGhub

A free tool to search and browse the entire DISA STIG library. Saves up to 75% in security compliance research time.

Navigation

  • Browse STIGs
  • Search
  • Compare Versions

Resources

  • About
  • Release Notes
  • VPAT
  • DISA STIG Library
STIGs updated 3 hours ago
Powered by Pylon
© 2026 Beacon Cloud Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.
← Back to VMware vRealize Operations Manager 6.x SLES Security Technical Implementation Guide

V-239593

CAT II (Medium)

The SLES for vRealize must audit all account enabling actions.

Rule ID

SV-239593r852590_rule

STIG

VMware vRealize Operations Manager 6.x SLES Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V2R2

CCIs

CCI-002130

Discussion

Once an attacker establishes initial access to a system, the attacker often attempts to create a persistent method of reestablishing access. One way to accomplish this is for the attacker to simply enable a new or disabled account. Notification of account enabling is one method for mitigating this risk. A comprehensive account management process will ensure an audit trail, which documents the creation of SLES for vRealize user accounts and notifies System Administrators and Information System Security Officers (ISSO) that it exists. Such a process greatly reduces the risk that accounts will be surreptitiously created and provides logging that can be used for forensic purposes. To address access requirements, many SLES for vRealize systems can be integrated with enterprise-level authentication/access/auditing mechanisms that meet or exceed access control policy requirements.

Check Content

Determine if execution of the usermod and groupmod executable are audited:

# auditctl -l | egrep '(usermod|groupmod)'

If either "useradd" or "groupadd" are not listed with a permissions filter of at least "x", this is a finding.

Determine if execution of the "userdel" and "groupdel" executable are audited:

# auditctl -l | egrep '(userdel|groupdel)'

If either "userdel" or "groupdel" are not listed with a permissions filter of at least "x", this is a finding.

Determine if execution of "useradd" and "groupadd" are audited:

# auditctl -l | egrep '(useradd|groupadd)'

If either "useradd" or "groupadd" are not listed with a permissions filter of at least "x", this is a finding.

Determine if execution of the passwd executable is audited: 

# auditctl -l | grep "/usr/bin/passwd" 

If "/usr/bin/passwd" is not listed with a permissions filter of at least "x", this is a finding. 

Determine if "/etc/passwd", "/etc/shadow", "etc/group", and "etc/security/opasswd" are audited for writing:

# auditctl -l | egrep '(/etc/passwd|/etc/shadow|/etc/group|/etc/security/opasswd)'

If any of these are not listed with a permissions filter of at least "w", this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure execute auditing of the "usermod" and "groupmod" executables. Add the following to the "/etc/audit/audit.rules" file:

-w /usr/sbin/usermod -p x -k usermod
-w /usr/sbin/groupmod -p x -k groupmod

Configure execute auditing of the "userdel" and "groupdel" executables. Add the following to the "/etc/audit/audit.rules" file:

-w /usr/sbin/userdel -p x -k userdel
-w /usr/sbin/groupdel -p x -k groupdel

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 execute auditing of the "passwd" executable. Add the following to the aud.rules:

-w /usr/bin/passwd -p x -k passwd

Configure write auditing of the "passwd", "shadow", "group", and "opasswd" files. Add the following to the "/etc/audit/audit.rules" file:

-w /etc/passwd -p wa -k passwd
-w /etc/shadow -p wa -k shadow
-w /etc/group -p wa -k group
-w /etc/security/opasswd -p wa -k opasswd

Restart the auditd service:

# service auditd restart