The macOS system must configure Apple System Log files to be owned by root and group to wheel.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-259553	APPL-14-004001	SV-259553r958564_rule		Medium

Description

The Apple System Logs (ASL) must be owned by root. ASL logs contain sensitive data about the system and users. If ASL log files are set to only be readable and writable by system administrators, the risk is mitigated. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000205-GPOS-00083,SRG-OS-000206-GPOS-00084

STIG	Date
Apple macOS 14 (Sonoma) Security Technical Implementation Guide	2024-12-04

Details

Check Text (C-63292r941279_chk)

Verify the macOS system is configured with Apple System Log files owned by root and group to wheel with the following command:

/usr/bin/stat -f '%Su:%Sg:%N' $(/usr/bin/grep -e '^>' /etc/asl.conf /etc/asl/* | /usr/bin/awk '{ print $2 }') 2> /dev/null | /usr/bin/awk '!/^root:wheel:/{print $1}' | /usr/bin/wc -l | /usr/bin/tr -d ' '

If the result is not "0", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-63200r941280_fix)

Configure the macOS system with Apple System Log files owned by root and group to wheel with the following command:

/usr/sbin/chown root:wheel $(/usr/bin/stat -f '%Su:%Sg:%N' $(/usr/bin/grep -e '^>' /etc/asl.conf /etc/asl/* | /usr/bin/awk '{ print $2 }') 2> /dev/null | /usr/bin/awk '!/^root:wheel:/{print $1}' | /usr/bin/awk -F":" '!/^root:wheel:/{print $3}')