V-214279

Discussion

Apache web server logging capability is critical for accurate forensic analysis. Without sufficient and accurate information, a correct replay of the events cannot be determined. Ascertaining the correct type of event that occurred is important during forensic analysis. The correct determination of the event and when it occurred is important in relation to other events that happened at that same time. Without sufficient information establishing what type of log event occurred, investigation into the cause of event is severely hindered. Log record content that may be necessary to satisfy the requirement of this control includes but is not limited to time stamps, source and destination IP addresses, user/process identifiers, event descriptions, application-specific events, success/fail indications, file names involved, access control, and flow control rules invoked.

Check Content

In a command line, run "httpd -M | grep -i log_config_module".  
 
If the "log_config_module" is not enabled, this is a finding. 
 
Determine the location of the "HTTPD_ROOT" directory and the "httpd.conf" file: 
 
# apachectl -V | egrep -i 'httpd_root|server_config_file'
-D HTTPD_ROOT="/etc/httpd"
-D SERVER_CONFIG_FILE="conf/httpd.conf"

Note: The apachectl front end is the preferred method for locating the Apache httpd file. For some Linux distributions "apache2ctl -V" or  "httpd -V" can also be used. 
 
Search for the directive "LogFormat" in the httpd.conf file: 
 
# cat /<path_to_file>/httpd.conf | grep -i "LogFormat" 
 
If the "LogFormat" directive is missing or does not look like the following, this is a finding: 
 
LogFormat "%a %A %h %H %l %m %s %t %u %U \"%{Referer}i\" " common