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NixOS must allocate an audit_backlog_limit of sufficient size to capture processes that start prior to the audit daemon.

An XCCDF Rule

Description

Without the capability to generate audit records, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one. If auditing is enabled late in the startup process, the actions of some startup processes may not be audited. Some audit systems also maintain state information only available if auditing is enabled before a given process is created. Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter). Allocating an audit_backlog_limit of sufficient size is critical in maintaining a stable boot process. With an insufficient limit allocated, the system is susceptible to boot failures and crashes. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000042-GPOS-00020, SRG-OS-000341-GPOS-00132

ID
SV-268093r1039167_rule
Version
ANIX-00-000260
Severity
Medium
References
Updated

Remediation Templates

A Manual Procedure

Configure NixOS to allocate sufficient audit_backlog_limit to capture processes that start prior to the audit daemon.

Add or update the "boot.kernelParams" configuration in /etc/nixos/configuration.nix to include the following rule:

 boot.kernelParams = [
  "audit_backlog_limit=8192"