IBM z/OS NOBUFFS in SMFPRMxx must be properly set (default is MSG).

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-98857	TSS0-US-000020	SV-107961r1_rule		Medium

Description
It is critical for the appropriate personnel to be aware if a system is at risk of failing to process audit 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. This requirement applies to each audit data storage repository (i.e., distinct information system component where audit records are stored), the centralized audit storage capacity of organizations (i.e., all audit data storage repositories combined), or both.

Description

It is critical for the appropriate personnel to be aware if a system is at risk of failing to process audit 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. This requirement applies to each audit data storage repository (i.e., distinct information system component where audit records are stored), the centralized audit storage capacity of organizations (i.e., all audit data storage repositories combined), or both.

STIG	Date
IBM z/OS TSS Security Technical Implementation Guide	2020-06-29

Details

Check Text ( C-97693r1_chk )
Refer to IEASYS00 member in SYS1.PARMLIB Concatenation. Determine proper SMFPRMxx member in SYS1.PARMLIB. If NOBUFFS is set to "HALT", this is not a finding. Note: If availability is an overriding concern NOBUFFS can be set to MSG.

Fix Text (F-104533r1_fix)
Configure NOBUFFS to "HALT" unless availability is an overriding concern then NOBUFFS can be set to MSG.