The macOS system must be configured with audit log folders group-owned by wheel.

From Apple OS X 10.13 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Associated with: CCI-000162

SV-96259r1_rule The macOS system must be configured with audit log folders group-owned by wheel.

Vulnerability discussion

The audit service must be configured to create log files with the correct group ownership to prevent regular 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 group ownership of the audit log folder, run the following command: /usr/bin/sudo ls -lde $(/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/grep '^dir' /etc/security/audit_control | awk -F: '{print $2}') The results should show the group (fourth column) to be "wheel". If they do not, this is a finding.

Fix text

For any log folder that has an incorrect group, run the following command: /usr/bin/sudo chgrp wheel [audit log folder]

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.