The audit system must be configured to audit changes to the /etc/sudoers file.

From Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Associated with: CCI-000172

SV-50379r2_rule The audit system must be configured to audit changes to the /etc/sudoers file.

Vulnerability discussion

The actions taken by system administrators should be audited to keep a record of what was executed on the system, as well as, for accountability purposes.

Check content

To verify that auditing is configured for system administrator actions, run the following command: $ sudo grep -w "/etc/sudoers" /etc/audit/audit.rules If the system is configured to watch for changes to its sudoers configuration, a line should be returned (including "-p wa" indicating permissions that are watched). If there is no output, this is a finding.

Fix text

At a minimum, the audit system should collect administrator actions for all users and root. Add the following to "/etc/audit/audit.rules": -w /etc/sudoers -p wa -k actions

Pro Tips

Lavender hyperlinks in small type off to the right (of CSS class id, if you view the page source) point to globally unique URIs for each document and item. Copy the link location and paste anywhere you need to talk unambiguously about these things.

You can obtain data about documents and items in other formats. Simply provide an HTTP header Accept: text/turtle or Accept: application/rdf+xml.