The DBMS must automatically audit account modification.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-61569	O121-C2-002300	SV-76059r2_rule		Medium

Description
Once an attacker establishes initial access to a system, they often attempt to create a persistent method of re-establishing access. One way to accomplish this is for the attacker to simply modify an existing account. Auditing of account modification is one method and best practice for mitigating this risk. A comprehensive application account management process ensures an audit trail automatically documents the modification of application user accounts and, as required, notifies administrators, application owners, and/or appropriate individuals. Applications must provide this capability directly, leveraging complementary technology providing this capability or a combination thereof. Automated account auditing processes greatly reduces the risk that accounts will be surreptitiously modified and provides logging that can be used for forensic purposes. Note that user authentication and account management should be done via an enterprise-wide mechanism whenever possible. Examples of enterprise-level authentication/access mechanisms include, but are not limited to, Active Directory and LDAP. However, notwithstanding how accounts are managed, Oracle auditing should always be configured to capture account modification.

Description

Once an attacker establishes initial access to a system, they often attempt to create a persistent method of re-establishing access. One way to accomplish this is for the attacker to simply modify an existing account. Auditing of account modification is one method and best practice for mitigating this risk. A comprehensive application account management process ensures an audit trail automatically documents the modification of application user accounts and, as required, notifies administrators, application owners, and/or appropriate individuals. Applications must provide this capability directly, leveraging complementary technology providing this capability or a combination thereof. Automated account auditing processes greatly reduces the risk that accounts will be surreptitiously modified and provides logging that can be used for forensic purposes. Note that user authentication and account management should be done via an enterprise-wide mechanism whenever possible. Examples of enterprise-level authentication/access mechanisms include, but are not limited to, Active Directory and LDAP. However, notwithstanding how accounts are managed, Oracle auditing should always be configured to capture account modification.

STIG	Date
Oracle Database 12c Security Technical Implementation Guide	2019-12-11

Details

Check Text ( C-62441r2_chk )
Check Oracle settings (and also OS settings and/or enterprise-level authentication/access mechanisms settings) to determine if account modification is being audited. If account modification is not being audited by Oracle, this is a finding. If Standard Auditing is used: To see if Oracle is configured to capture audit data, enter the following SQLPlus command: SHOW PARAMETER AUDIT_TRAIL or the following SQL query: SELECT FROM SYS.V$PARAMETER WHERE NAME = 'audit_trail'; If Oracle returns the value 'NONE', this is a finding. If Unified Auditing is used: To see if Oracle is configured to capture audit data including account modification, enter the following SQLPlus command: SELECT ' Account modification is not being audited. ' FROM dual WHERE (SELECT Count() FROM (select policy_name , audit_option from audit_unified_policies WHERE audit_option = 'ALTER USER' and policy_name in (select policy_name from audit_unified_enabled_policies where user_name='ALL USERS'))) = 0 OR (SELECT value FROM v$option WHERE parameter = 'Unified Auditing') != 'TRUE'; If Oracle returns "no rows selected", this is not a finding.

Check Text ( C-62441r2_chk )

Check Oracle settings (and also OS settings and/or enterprise-level authentication/access mechanisms settings) to determine if account modification is being audited. If account modification is not being audited by Oracle, this is a finding.

If Standard Auditing is used:
To see if Oracle is configured to capture audit data, enter the following SQL*Plus command:
SHOW PARAMETER AUDIT_TRAIL
or the following SQL query:
SELECT * FROM SYS.V$PARAMETER WHERE NAME = 'audit_trail';
If Oracle returns the value 'NONE', this is a finding.

If Unified Auditing is used:
To see if Oracle is configured to capture audit data including account modification, enter the following SQL*Plus command:
SELECT ' Account modification is not being audited. '
FROM dual
WHERE (SELECT Count(*)
FROM (select policy_name , audit_option from audit_unified_policies
WHERE audit_option = 'ALTER USER'
and policy_name in (select policy_name from audit_unified_enabled_policies where user_name='ALL USERS'))) = 0
OR (SELECT value
FROM v$option
WHERE parameter = 'Unified Auditing') != 'TRUE';

If Oracle returns "no rows selected", this is not a finding.

Fix Text (F-67485r3_fix)
Configure Oracle to audit account modifications activities. If Standard Auditing is used: Use this process to ensure auditable events are captured: ALTER SYSTEM SET AUDIT_TRAIL= SCOPE=SPFILE; Audit trail type can be 'OS', 'DB', 'DB,EXTENDED', 'XML' or 'XML,EXTENDED'. After executing this statement, it may be necessary to shut down and restart the Oracle database. If Unified Auditing is used: To ensure auditable events are captured: Link the oracle binary with uniaud_on, and then restart the database. Oracle Database Upgrade Guide describes how to enable unified auditing. Reference V-61625 for information on how to configure a policy to audit account modification. For more information on the configuration of auditing, refer to the following documents: "Auditing Database Activity" in the Oracle Database 2 Day + Security Guide: http://docs.oracle.com/database/121/TDPSG/tdpsg_auditing.htm#TDPSG50000 "Monitoring Database Activity with Auditing" in the Oracle Database Security Guide: http://docs.oracle.com/database/121/DBSEG/part_6.htm#CCHEHCGI "DBMS_AUDIT_MGMT" in the Oracle Database PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference: http://docs.oracle.com/database/121/ARPLS/d_audit_mgmt.htm#ARPLS241 Oracle Database Upgrade Guide: http://docs.oracle.com/database/121/UPGRD/afterup.htm#UPGRD52810

Fix Text (F-67485r3_fix)

Configure Oracle to audit account modifications activities.

If Standard Auditing is used:
Use this process to ensure auditable events are captured:
ALTER SYSTEM SET AUDIT_TRAIL= SCOPE=SPFILE;
Audit trail type can be 'OS', 'DB', 'DB,EXTENDED', 'XML' or 'XML,EXTENDED'.
After executing this statement, it may be necessary to shut down and restart the Oracle database.

If Unified Auditing is used:
To ensure auditable events are captured:
Link the oracle binary with uniaud_on, and then restart the database. Oracle Database Upgrade Guide describes how to enable unified auditing. Reference V-61625 for information on how to configure a policy to audit account modification.

For more information on the configuration of auditing, refer to the following documents:
"Auditing Database Activity" in the Oracle Database 2 Day + Security Guide:
http://docs.oracle.com/database/121/TDPSG/tdpsg_auditing.htm#TDPSG50000
"Monitoring Database Activity with Auditing" in the Oracle Database Security Guide:
http://docs.oracle.com/database/121/DBSEG/part_6.htm#CCHEHCGI
"DBMS_AUDIT_MGMT" in the Oracle Database PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference:
http://docs.oracle.com/database/121/ARPLS/d_audit_mgmt.htm#ARPLS241
Oracle Database Upgrade Guide:
http://docs.oracle.com/database/121/UPGRD/afterup.htm#UPGRD52810