Windows 10 permissions for the System event log must prevent access by non-privileged accounts.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-220784	WN10-AU-000525	SV-220784r569187_rule		Medium

Description
Maintaining an audit trail of system activity logs can help identify configuration errors, troubleshoot service disruptions, and analyze compromises that have occurred, as well as detect attacks. Audit logs are necessary to provide a trail of evidence in case the system or network is compromised. The System event log may be susceptible to tampering if proper permissions are not applied.

STIG	Date
Microsoft Windows 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2024-02-21

Details

Check Text ( C-22499r554837_chk )
Verify the permissions on the System event log (System.evtx). Standard user accounts or groups must not have access. The default permissions listed below satisfy this requirement. Eventlog - Full Control SYSTEM - Full Control Administrators - Full Control The default location is the "%SystemRoot%\SYSTEM32\WINEVT\LOGS" directory. They may have been moved to another folder. If the permissions for these files are not as restrictive as the ACLs listed, this is a finding. NOTE: If "APPLICATION PACKAGE AUTHORITY\ALL APPLICATION PACKAGES" has Special Permissions, this would not be a finding.

Check Text ( C-22499r554837_chk )

Verify the permissions on the System event log (System.evtx). Standard user accounts or groups must not have access. The default permissions listed below satisfy this requirement.

Eventlog - Full Control
SYSTEM - Full Control
Administrators - Full Control

The default location is the "%SystemRoot%\SYSTEM32\WINEVT\LOGS" directory. They may have been moved to another folder.

If the permissions for these files are not as restrictive as the ACLs listed, this is a finding.

NOTE: If "APPLICATION PACKAGE AUTHORITY\ALL APPLICATION PACKAGES" has Special Permissions, this would not be a finding.

Fix Text (F-22488r554838_fix)
Ensure the permissions on the System event log (System.evtx) are configured to prevent standard user accounts or groups from having access. The default permissions listed below satisfy this requirement. Eventlog - Full Control SYSTEM - Full Control Administrators - Full Control The default location is the "%SystemRoot%\SYSTEM32\WINEVT\LOGS" directory. If the location of the logs has been changed, when adding Eventlog to the permissions, it must be entered as "NT Service\Eventlog".

Fix Text (F-22488r554838_fix)

Ensure the permissions on the System event log (System.evtx) are configured to prevent standard user accounts or groups from having access. The default permissions listed below satisfy this requirement.

Eventlog - Full Control
SYSTEM - Full Control
Administrators - Full Control

The default location is the "%SystemRoot%\SYSTEM32\WINEVT\LOGS" directory.

If the location of the logs has been changed, when adding Eventlog to the permissions, it must be entered as "NT Service\Eventlog".