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System Audit Logs Must Be Group Owned By Root

An XCCDF Rule

Description

All audit logs must be group owned by root user. The path for audit log can be configured via log_file parameter in

/etc/audit/auditd.conf
or, by default, the path for audit log is
/var/log/audit/
. To properly set the group owner of /var/log/audit/*, run the command:
$ sudo chgrp root /var/log/audit/*

Rationale

Unauthorized disclosure of audit records can reveal system and configuration data to attackers, thus compromising its confidentiality.

ID
xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_file_group_ownership_var_log_audit
Severity
Medium
References
Updated



Remediation - Shell Script

# Remediation is applicable only in certain platforms
if [ ! -f /.dockerenv ] && [ ! -f /run/.containerenv ] && rpm --quiet -q audit; then

if LC_ALL=C grep -iw log_file /etc/audit/auditd.conf; then
  FILE=$(awk -F "=" '/^log_file/ {print $2}' /etc/audit/auditd.conf | tr -d ' ')
else