Exchange must have Audit data protected against unauthorized modification.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-234779	EX13-CA-000075	SV-234779r811161_rule		Medium

Description
Log files help establish a history of activities, and can be useful in detecting attack attempts or determining tuning adjustments to improve availability. Audit log content must always be considered sensitive, and in need of protection. Audit data available for modification by a malicious user can be altered to conceal malicious activity. Audit data might also provide a means for the malicious user to plan unauthorized activities that exploit weaknesses. The contents of audit logs are protected against unauthorized access, modification, or deletion. Only authorized auditors and the audit functions should be granted Read and Write access to audit log data.

Description

Log files help establish a history of activities, and can be useful in detecting attack attempts or determining tuning adjustments to improve availability. Audit log content must always be considered sensitive, and in need of protection. Audit data available for modification by a malicious user can be altered to conceal malicious activity. Audit data might also provide a means for the malicious user to plan unauthorized activities that exploit weaknesses. The contents of audit logs are protected against unauthorized access, modification, or deletion. Only authorized auditors and the audit functions should be granted Read and Write access to audit log data.

STIG	Date
Microsoft Exchange 2013 Client Access Server Security Technical Implementation Guide	2021-12-16

Details

Check Text ( C-37965r617276_chk )
Review the Email Domain Security Plan (EDSP). Determine the authorized groups or users that should have access to the audit data. If any group or user has modify privileges for the audit data that is not documented in the EDSP, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-37928r811160_fix)
Update the EDSP. Navigate to the location of the audit data. By default, the logs are located on the application partition in \Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\Logging Restrict any unauthorized groups' or users' modify permissions for the audit logs.