The SLES for vRealize must notify System Administrators and Information System Security Officers when accounts are created, or enabled when previously disabled.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-239594	VROM-SL-000975	SV-239594r852591_rule		Medium

Description
Once an attacker establishes initial access to a system, the attacker often attempts to create a persistent method of reestablishing access. One way to accomplish this is for the attacker to simply enable a new or disabled account. Notification of account enabling is one method for mitigating this risk. A comprehensive account management process will ensure an audit trail, which documents the creation of SLES for vRealize user accounts and notifies System Administrators and Information System Security Officers (ISSO) that it exists. Such a process greatly reduces the risk that accounts will be surreptitiously enabled and provides logging that can be used for forensic purposes. In order to detect and respond to events that affect user accessibility and application processing, SLES for vRealize systems must audit account enabling actions and, as required, notify the appropriate individuals so they can investigate the event. To address access requirements, many operating systems can be integrated with enterprise-level authentication/access/auditing mechanisms that meet or exceed access control policy requirements.

Description

Once an attacker establishes initial access to a system, the attacker often attempts to create a persistent method of reestablishing access. One way to accomplish this is for the attacker to simply enable a new or disabled account. Notification of account enabling is one method for mitigating this risk. A comprehensive account management process will ensure an audit trail, which documents the creation of SLES for vRealize user accounts and notifies System Administrators and Information System Security Officers (ISSO) that it exists. Such a process greatly reduces the risk that accounts will be surreptitiously enabled and provides logging that can be used for forensic purposes. In order to detect and respond to events that affect user accessibility and application processing, SLES for vRealize systems must audit account enabling actions and, as required, notify the appropriate individuals so they can investigate the event. To address access requirements, many operating systems can be integrated with enterprise-level authentication/access/auditing mechanisms that meet or exceed access control policy requirements.

STIG	Date
VMware vRealize Operations Manager 6.x SLES Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-09-21

Details

Check Text ( C-42827r662231_chk )
Determine if execution of the "usermod" and "groupmod" executable are audited: # auditctl -l \| egrep '(usermod\|groupmod)' If either "useradd" or "groupadd" are not listed with a permissions filter of at least "x", this is a finding. Determine if execution of the "userdel" and "groupdel" executable are audited: # auditctl -l \| egrep '(userdel\|groupdel)' If either "userdel" or "groupdel" are not listed with a permissions filter of at least "x", this is a finding. Determine if execution of "useradd" and "groupadd" are audited: # auditctl -l \| egrep '(useradd\|groupadd)' If either "useradd" or "groupadd" are not listed with a permissions filter of at least "x", this is a finding. Determine if execution of the "passwd" executable is audited: # auditctl -l \| grep "/usr/bin/passwd" If "/usr/bin/passwd" is not listed with a permissions filter of at least "x", this is a finding. Determine if "/etc/passwd", "/etc/shadow", "/etc/group", and "/etc/security/opasswd" are audited for writing: # auditctl -l \| egrep '(/etc/passwd\|/etc/shadow\|/etc/group\|/etc/security/opasswd)' If any of these are not listed with a permissions filter of at least "w", this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-42827r662231_chk )

Determine if execution of the "usermod" and "groupmod" executable are audited:

# auditctl -l | egrep '(usermod|groupmod)'

If either "useradd" or "groupadd" are not listed with a permissions filter of at least "x", this is a finding.

Determine if execution of the "userdel" and "groupdel" executable are audited:

# auditctl -l | egrep '(userdel|groupdel)'

If either "userdel" or "groupdel" are not listed with a permissions filter of at least "x", this is a finding.

Determine if execution of "useradd" and "groupadd" are audited:

# auditctl -l | egrep '(useradd|groupadd)'

If either "useradd" or "groupadd" are not listed with a permissions filter of at least "x", this is a finding.

Determine if execution of the "passwd" executable is audited:

# auditctl -l | grep "/usr/bin/passwd"

If "/usr/bin/passwd" is not listed with a permissions filter of at least "x", this is a finding.

Determine if "/etc/passwd", "/etc/shadow", "/etc/group", and "/etc/security/opasswd" are audited for writing:

# auditctl -l | egrep '(/etc/passwd|/etc/shadow|/etc/group|/etc/security/opasswd)'

If any of these are not listed with a permissions filter of at least "w", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-42786r662232_fix)
Configure execute auditing of the "usermod" and "groupmod" executables. Add the following to the "/etc/audit/audit.rules" file: -w /usr/sbin/usermod -p x -k usermod -w /usr/sbin/groupmod -p x -k groupmod Configure execute auditing of the "userdel" and "groupdel" executables. Add the following to the "/etc/audit/audit.rules" file: -w /usr/sbin/userdel -p x -k userdel -w /usr/sbin/groupdel -p x -k groupdel Configure execute auditing of the "useradd" and "groupadd" executables. Add the following to audit.rules: -w /usr/sbin/useradd -p x -k useradd -w /usr/sbin/groupadd -p x -k groupadd Configure execute auditing of the "passwd" executable. Add the following to the aud.rules: -w /usr/bin/passwd -p x -k passwd Configure write auditing of the "passwd", "shadow", "group", and "opasswd" files. Add the following to the "/etc/audit/audit.rules" file: -w /etc/passwd -p wa -k passwd -w /etc/shadow -p wa -k shadow -w /etc/group -p wa -k group -w /etc/security/opasswd -p wa -k opasswd Restart the auditd service: # service auditd restart

Fix Text (F-42786r662232_fix)

Configure execute auditing of the "usermod" and "groupmod" executables. Add the following to the "/etc/audit/audit.rules" file:

-w /usr/sbin/usermod -p x -k usermod
-w /usr/sbin/groupmod -p x -k groupmod

Configure execute auditing of the "userdel" and "groupdel" executables. Add the following to the "/etc/audit/audit.rules" file:

-w /usr/sbin/userdel -p x -k userdel
-w /usr/sbin/groupdel -p x -k groupdel

Configure execute auditing of the "useradd" and "groupadd" executables. Add the following to audit.rules:

-w /usr/sbin/useradd -p x -k useradd
-w /usr/sbin/groupadd -p x -k groupadd

Configure execute auditing of the "passwd" executable. Add the following to the aud.rules:

-w /usr/bin/passwd -p x -k passwd

Configure write auditing of the "passwd", "shadow", "group", and "opasswd" files. Add the following to the "/etc/audit/audit.rules" file:

-w /etc/passwd -p wa -k passwd
-w /etc/shadow -p wa -k shadow
-w /etc/group -p wa -k group
-w /etc/security/opasswd -p wa -k opasswd

Restart the auditd service:

# service auditd restart