Exchange must protect audit data against unauthorized deletion.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-259662	EX19-MB-000054	SV-259662r960936_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 2019 Mailbox Server Security Technical Implementation Guide	2024-06-10

Details

Check Text ( C-63401r942298_chk )
Review the Email Domain Security Plan (EDSP) or document that contains this information. Determine the authorized groups or users that should have "Delete" permissions for the audit data. By default, the logs are located on the application partition in \Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\Logging. If any group or user has "Delete" permissions for the audit data that is not documented in the EDSP, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-63401r942298_chk )

Review the Email Domain Security Plan (EDSP) or document that contains this information.

Determine the authorized groups or users that should have "Delete" permissions for the audit data.

By default, the logs are located on the application partition in \Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\Logging.

If any group or user has "Delete" permissions for the audit data that is not documented in the EDSP, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-63309r942299_fix)
Update the EDSP to specify the authorized groups or users that should have "Delete" permissions for the audit data or verify that this information is documented by the organization. Restrict any unauthorized groups' or users' "Delete" permissions for the audit logs.