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-257238	APPL-13-004002	SV-257238r905347_rule		Medium

Description
System logs must 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 13 (Ventura) Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-04-12

Details

Check Text ( C-60923r905345_chk )
Verify the macOS system is configured with system log files set to mode 640 or less with the commands below. These commands must be run from inside "/var/log". /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/stat -f '%A:%N' $(/usr/bin/grep -v '^#' /etc/newsyslog.conf \| /usr/bin/awk '{ print $1 }') 2> /dev/null /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/stat -f '%A:%N' $(/usr/bin/grep -e '^>' /etc/asl.conf /etc/asl/* \| /usr/bin/awk '{ print $2 }') 2> /dev/null If the permissions on log files are not "640" or less permissive, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-60923r905345_chk )

Verify the macOS system is configured with system log files set to mode 640 or less with the commands below.

These commands must be run from inside "/var/log".

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

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

If the permissions on log files are not "640" or less permissive, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-60864r905346_fix)
Configure the macOS system with system log files set to mode 640 with the following command: /usr/bin/sudo chmod 640 [log file] Alternatively, 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, 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".

Fix Text (F-60864r905346_fix)

Configure the macOS system with system log files set to mode 640 with the following command:

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

Alternatively, 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, 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".