The firewall must be configured to send a real-time alert to the ISSO and SA (at a minimum) in the event of an audit processing failure on the firewall itself.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-79449	SRG-NET-000088-FW-000018	SV-94155r1_rule		Medium

Description
It is critical for the appropriate personnel to be aware if a system is at risk of failing to process traffic logs as required. Without this notification, the security personnel may be unaware of an impending failure of the audit capability and system operation may be adversely affected. Audit processing failures include software/hardware errors, failures in the audit capturing mechanisms, and audit storage capacity being reached or exceeded. Most firewalls use User Datagram Protocol (UDP) to send audit records to the server and cannot tell if the server has received the transmission. Thus, when the event daemon stops working, messages and notifications cannot be sent to the event monitor (e.g., Network Management System [NMS], Security Information and Event Management [SIEM], Syslog) or to the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) server. Another method such as a keep-alive with the central audit server may be required. This requirement applies to each audit data storage repository (i.e., distinct information system component where traffic log records are stored), the centralized audit storage capacity of organizations (i.e., all audit data storage repositories combined), or both. Note that CCI-001858 requires that audit failure alerts be in real time; thus, simply sending a log event to the central audit server is not sufficient.

Description

It is critical for the appropriate personnel to be aware if a system is at risk of failing to process traffic logs as required. Without this notification, the security personnel may be unaware of an impending failure of the audit capability and system operation may be adversely affected. Audit processing failures include software/hardware errors, failures in the audit capturing mechanisms, and audit storage capacity being reached or exceeded. Most firewalls use User Datagram Protocol (UDP) to send audit records to the server and cannot tell if the server has received the transmission. Thus, when the event daemon stops working, messages and notifications cannot be sent to the event monitor (e.g., Network Management System [NMS], Security Information and Event Management [SIEM], Syslog) or to the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) server. Another method such as a keep-alive with the central audit server may be required. This requirement applies to each audit data storage repository (i.e., distinct information system component where traffic log records are stored), the centralized audit storage capacity of organizations (i.e., all audit data storage repositories combined), or both. Note that CCI-001858 requires that audit failure alerts be in real time; thus, simply sending a log event to the central audit server is not sufficient.

STIG	Date
Firewall Security Requirements Guide	2019-06-28

Details

Check Text ( C-79063r1_chk )
If a network device such as the events, network management, or SNMP server are configured to send an alert when an audit processing failure occurs, this is not a finding. Verify the firewall is configured to send an alert via instant message, email, SNMP or another authorized method to the ISSO, SA, and other identified personnel when an audit processing failure occurs. If the firewall is not configured to send an alert via an approved and immediate method when an audit processing failure occurs, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-79063r1_chk )

If a network device such as the events, network management, or SNMP server are configured to send an alert when an audit processing failure occurs, this is not a finding.

Verify the firewall is configured to send an alert via instant message, email, SNMP or another authorized method to the ISSO, SA, and other identified personnel when an audit processing failure occurs.

If the firewall is not configured to send an alert via an approved and immediate method when an audit processing failure occurs, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-86221r1_fix)
Configure the firewall (or another network device) to send an alert via instant message, email, or another authorized method to the ISSO, SA, and other identified personnel when an audit processing failure that prevents the device from generating, storing or sending events occurs on the device itself (e.g., a failure of the event daemon).