The OS X system must be configured with audit log files set to mode 440 or less permissive.

From Apple OS X 10.12 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Associated with: CCI-000162

SV-90715r1_rule The OS X system must be configured with audit log files set to mode 440 or less permissive.

Vulnerability discussion

The audit service must be configured to create log files with the correct permissions to prevent normal users from reading audit logs. Audit logs contain sensitive data about the system and about users. If log files are set to be readable and writable only by root or administrative users with sudo, the risk is mitigated.

Check content

To check the permissions of the audit log files, run the following command: /usr/bin/sudo ls -le $(/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/grep '^dir' /etc/security/audit_control | awk -F: '{print $2}') | /usr/bin/grep -v current The results should show the permissions (first column) to be "440" or less permissive. If they do not, this is a finding.

Fix text

For any log file that returns an incorrect permission value, run the following command: /usr/bin/sudo chmod 440 [audit log file] [audit log file] is the full path to the log file in question.

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