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The macOS system must be configured with audit log folders owned by root.


Overview

Finding ID Version Rule ID IA Controls Severity
V-252467 APPL-12-001013 SV-252467r816215_rule Medium
Description
The audit service must be configured to create log files with the correct ownership to prevent normal users from reading audit logs. Audit logs contain sensitive data about the system and about users. If log files are set to be readable and writable only by root or administrative users with sudo, the risk is mitigated.
STIG Date
Apple macOS 12 (Monterey) Security Technical Implementation Guide 2022-09-07

Details

Check Text ( C-55923r816213_chk )
To check the ownership of the audit log folder, run the following command:

/usr/bin/sudo ls -lde $(/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/grep '^dir' /etc/security/audit_control | awk -F: '{print $2}')

The results should show the owner (third column) to be "root".

If it does not, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-55873r816214_fix)
For any log folder that has an incorrect owner, run the following command:

/usr/bin/sudo chown root [audit log folder]