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audit_flags_fw_configure Configure System to Audit All Failed Write Actions on the System

NIST macOS Security Compliance Project Tahoe Guidance, Revision 3.0 (cf656e8)
All changes in this version
first version loaded Auditing

Title

Configure System to Audit All Failed Write Actions on the System

Control

/usr/bin/awk -F':' '/^flags/ { print $NF }' /etc/security/audit_control | /usr/bin/tr ',' '\n' | /usr/bin/grep -Ec '\-fw'

Discussion

The audit system _MUST_ be configured to record enforcement actions of access restrictions, including failed file write (-fw) attempts.

Enforcement actions are the methods or mechanisms used to prevent unauthorized access and/or changes to configuration settings. One common and effective enforcement action method is using access restrictions (e.g., denying users access to edit a file by applying file permissions).

This configuration ensures that audit lists include events in which enforcement actions prevent attempts to change a file.

Without auditing the enforcement of access restrictions, it is difficult to identify attempted attacks, as there is no audit trail available for forensic investigation.

Related controls

ac-2.12, au-12, au-2, au-9, cm-5.1, ma-4.1

Fix

[source,bash]
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/usr/bin/grep -qE "^flags.*-fw" /etc/security/audit_control || /usr/bin/sed -i.bak '/^flags/ s/$/,-fw/' /etc/security/audit_control;/usr/sbin/audit -s
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