The macOS system must be configured with system log files set to mode 640 or less permissive.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-230843	APPL-11-004002	SV-230843r599842_rule		Medium

Description
System logs should only be readable by root or admin users. System logs frequently contain sensitive information that could be used by an attacker. Setting the correct permissions mitigates this risk.

STIG	Date
Apple macOS 11 (Big Sur) Security Technical Implementation Guide	2022-02-16

Details

Check Text ( C-33788r607416_chk )
The following commands check for log files that exist on the system and print the path to the log with the corresponding permissions. Run them from inside "/var/log": /usr/bin/sudo stat -f '%A:%N' $(/usr/bin/grep -v '^#' /etc/newsyslog.conf \| awk '{ print $1 }') 2> /dev/null /usr/bin/sudo stat -f '%A:%N' $(/usr/bin/grep -e '^>' /etc/asl.conf /etc/asl/* \| awk '{ print $2 }') 2> /dev/null Each command may return zero or more files. If the permissions on log files are not "640" or less permissive, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-33788r607416_chk )

The following commands check for log files that exist on the system and print the path to the log with the corresponding permissions. Run them from inside "/var/log":

/usr/bin/sudo stat -f '%A:%N' $(/usr/bin/grep -v '^#' /etc/newsyslog.conf | awk '{ print $1 }') 2> /dev/null
/usr/bin/sudo stat -f '%A:%N' $(/usr/bin/grep -e '^>' /etc/asl.conf /etc/asl/* | awk '{ print $2 }') 2> /dev/null

Each command may return zero or more files. If the permissions on log files are not "640" or less permissive, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-33761r607635_fix)
For any log file that returns an incorrect permission value, run the following command: /usr/bin/sudo chmod 640 [log file] [log file] is the full path to the log file in question. If the file is managed by "newsyslog", find the configuration line in the directory "/etc/newsyslog.d/" or the file "/etc/newsyslog.conf" and edit the mode column to be "640" or less permissive. If the file is managed by "aslmanager", find the configuration line in the directory "/etc/asl/" or the file "/etc/asl.conf" and add or edit the mode option to be "mode=0640" or less permissive.

Fix Text (F-33761r607635_fix)

For any log file that returns an incorrect permission value, run the following command:

/usr/bin/sudo chmod 640 [log file]

[log file] is the full path to the log file in question. If the file is managed by "newsyslog", find the configuration line in the directory "/etc/newsyslog.d/" or the file "/etc/newsyslog.conf" and edit the mode column to be "640" or less permissive.

If the file is managed by "aslmanager", find the configuration line in the directory "/etc/asl/" or the file "/etc/asl.conf" and add or edit the mode option to be "mode=0640" or less permissive.