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APPL-26-004002 The macOS system must configure Apple System Log (ASL) files to mode 640 or less permissive.

DISA STIG library V1R4
All changes in this version
first version loaded CAT II

Maps to SI-11 via CCI-001312, CCI-001314

Title

The macOS system must configure Apple System Log (ASL) files to mode 640 or less permissive.

Control

Verify the macOS system is configured with ASL files to mode 640 or less permissive with the following command: /usr/bin/stat -f '%A:%N' $(/usr/bin/grep -e '^>' /etc/asl.conf /etc/asl/* | /usr/bin/awk '{ print $2 }') 2> /dev/null | /usr/bin/awk '!/640/{print $1}' | /usr/bin/wc -l | /usr/bin/tr -d ' ' If the result is not "0", this is a finding.

Discussion

The ASLs must be configured to be writable by root and readable only by the root user and group wheel. To achieve this, ASL files must be configured to mode 640 permissive or less, thereby preventing normal users from reading, modifying, or deleting audit logs. System logs frequently contain sensitive information that could be used by an attacker. Setting the correct permissions mitigates this risk. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000205-GPOS-00083, SRG-OS-000206-GPOS-00084

Related controls

CCI-001312, CCI-001314

Fix

Configure the macOS system with ASL files to mode 640 with the following command: /bin/chmod 640 $(/usr/bin/stat -f '%A:%N' $(/usr/bin/grep -e '^>' /etc/asl.conf /etc/asl/* | /usr/bin/awk '{ print $2 }') 2> /dev/null | /usr/bin/awk -F":" '!/640/{print $2}')