The RHEL 8 audit system must be configured to audit any usage of the setxattr, fsetxattr, lsetxattr, removexattr, fremovexattr, and lremovexattr system calls.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-230413	RHEL-08-030200	SV-230413r810463_rule		Medium

Description
Without generating audit records that are specific to the security and mission needs of the organization, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one. Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter). "Setxattr" is a system call used to set an extended attribute value. "Fsetxattr" is a system call used to set an extended attribute value. This is used to set extended attributes on a file. "Lsetxattr" is a system call used to set an extended attribute value. This is used to set extended attributes on a symbolic link. "Removexattr" is a system call that removes extended attributes. "Fremovexattr" is a system call that removes extended attributes. This is used for removal of extended attributes from a file. "Lremovexattr" is a system call that removes extended attributes. This is used for removal of extended attributes from symbolic links. When a user logs on, the AUID is set to the UID of the account that is being authenticated. Daemons are not user sessions and have the loginuid set to "-1". The AUID representation is an unsigned 32-bit integer, which equals "4294967295". The audit system interprets "-1", "4294967295", and "unset" in the same way. The system call rules are loaded into a matching engine that intercepts each syscall made by all programs on the system. Therefore, it is very important to use syscall rules only when absolutely necessary since these affect performance. The more rules, the bigger the performance hit. The performance can be helped, however, by combining syscalls into one rule whenever possible. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000062-GPOS-00031, SRG-OS-000037-GPOS-00015, SRG-OS-000042-GPOS-00020, SRG-OS-000392-GPOS-00172, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000462-GPOS-00206, SRG-OS-000463-GPOS-00207, SRG-OS-000468-GPOS-00212, SRG-OS-000471-GPOS-00215, SRG-OS-000474-GPOS-00219, SRG-OS-000466-GPOS-00210

Description

Without generating audit records that are specific to the security and mission needs of the organization, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one. Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter). "Setxattr" is a system call used to set an extended attribute value. "Fsetxattr" is a system call used to set an extended attribute value. This is used to set extended attributes on a file. "Lsetxattr" is a system call used to set an extended attribute value. This is used to set extended attributes on a symbolic link. "Removexattr" is a system call that removes extended attributes. "Fremovexattr" is a system call that removes extended attributes. This is used for removal of extended attributes from a file. "Lremovexattr" is a system call that removes extended attributes. This is used for removal of extended attributes from symbolic links. When a user logs on, the AUID is set to the UID of the account that is being authenticated. Daemons are not user sessions and have the loginuid set to "-1". The AUID representation is an unsigned 32-bit integer, which equals "4294967295". The audit system interprets "-1", "4294967295", and "unset" in the same way. The system call rules are loaded into a matching engine that intercepts each syscall made by all programs on the system. Therefore, it is very important to use syscall rules only when absolutely necessary since these affect performance. The more rules, the bigger the performance hit. The performance can be helped, however, by combining syscalls into one rule whenever possible. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000062-GPOS-00031, SRG-OS-000037-GPOS-00015, SRG-OS-000042-GPOS-00020, SRG-OS-000392-GPOS-00172, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000462-GPOS-00206, SRG-OS-000463-GPOS-00207, SRG-OS-000468-GPOS-00212, SRG-OS-000471-GPOS-00215, SRG-OS-000474-GPOS-00219, SRG-OS-000466-GPOS-00210

STIG	Date
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2022-12-06

Details

Check Text ( C-33082r809293_chk )
Verify if RHEL 8 is configured to audit the execution of the "setxattr", "fsetxattr", "lsetxattr", "removexattr", "fremovexattr", and "lremovexattr" system calls by running the following command: $ sudo grep xattr /etc/audit/audit.rules -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S setxattr,fsetxattr,lsetxattr,removexattr,fremovexattr,lremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -k perm_mod -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S setxattr,fsetxattr,lsetxattr,removexattr,fremovexattr,lremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -k perm_mod -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S setxattr,fsetxattr,lsetxattr,removexattr,fremovexattr,lremovexattr -F auid=0 -k perm_mod -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S setxattr,fsetxattr,lsetxattr,removexattr,fremovexattr,lremovexattr -F auid=0 -k perm_mod If the command does not return an audit rule for "setxattr", "fsetxattr", "lsetxattr", "removexattr", "fremovexattr", and "lremovexattr" or any of the lines returned are commented out, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-33082r809293_chk )

Verify if RHEL 8 is configured to audit the execution of the "setxattr", "fsetxattr", "lsetxattr", "removexattr", "fremovexattr", and "lremovexattr" system calls by running the following command:

$ sudo grep xattr /etc/audit/audit.rules

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S setxattr,fsetxattr,lsetxattr,removexattr,fremovexattr,lremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -k perm_mod
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S setxattr,fsetxattr,lsetxattr,removexattr,fremovexattr,lremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -k perm_mod

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S setxattr,fsetxattr,lsetxattr,removexattr,fremovexattr,lremovexattr -F auid=0 -k perm_mod
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S setxattr,fsetxattr,lsetxattr,removexattr,fremovexattr,lremovexattr -F auid=0 -k perm_mod

If the command does not return an audit rule for "setxattr", "fsetxattr", "lsetxattr", "removexattr", "fremovexattr", and "lremovexattr" or any of the lines returned are commented out, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-33057r809294_fix)
Configure RHEL 8 to audit the execution of the "setxattr", "fsetxattr", "lsetxattr", "removexattr", "fremovexattr", and "lremovexattr" system calls by adding or updating the following lines to "/etc/audit/rules.d/audit.rules": -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S setxattr,fsetxattr,lsetxattr,removexattr,fremovexattr,lremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -k perm_mod -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S setxattr,fsetxattr,lsetxattr,removexattr,fremovexattr,lremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -k perm_mod -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S setxattr,fsetxattr,lsetxattr,removexattr,fremovexattr,lremovexattr -F auid=0 -k perm_mod -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S setxattr,fsetxattr,lsetxattr,removexattr,fremovexattr,lremovexattr -F auid=0 -k perm_mod The audit daemon must be restarted for the changes to take effect.

Fix Text (F-33057r809294_fix)

Configure RHEL 8 to audit the execution of the "setxattr", "fsetxattr", "lsetxattr", "removexattr", "fremovexattr", and "lremovexattr" system calls by adding or updating the following lines to "/etc/audit/rules.d/audit.rules":

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S setxattr,fsetxattr,lsetxattr,removexattr,fremovexattr,lremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -k perm_mod
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S setxattr,fsetxattr,lsetxattr,removexattr,fremovexattr,lremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -k perm_mod

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S setxattr,fsetxattr,lsetxattr,removexattr,fremovexattr,lremovexattr -F auid=0 -k perm_mod
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S setxattr,fsetxattr,lsetxattr,removexattr,fremovexattr,lremovexattr -F auid=0 -k perm_mod

The audit daemon must be restarted for the changes to take effect.