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

V-239594

CAT II (Medium)

The SLES for vRealize must notify System Administrators and Information System Security Officers when accounts are created, or enabled when previously disabled.

Rule ID

SV-239594r852591_rule

STIG

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

Version

V2R2

CCIs

CCI-002132

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 enabled and provides logging that can be used for forensic purposes. In order to detect and respond to events that affect user accessibility and application processing, SLES for vRealize systems must audit account enabling actions and, as required, notify the appropriate individuals so they can investigate the event. To address access requirements, many operating 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