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audit_flags_ex_configure Configure System to Audit All Failed Program Execution on the System

NIST macOS Security Compliance Project Sequoia Guidance, Revision 4.0 (be5491f)
All changes in this version
first version loaded Auditing

Title

Configure System to Audit All Failed Program Execution on the System

Control

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

Discussion

The audit system _MUST_ be configured to record enforcement actions of access restrictions, including failed program execute (-ex) 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 program execution restrictions (e.g., denying users access to execute certain processes).

This configuration ensures that audit lists include events in which program execution has failed.
Without auditing the enforcement of program execution, 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, cm-5.1

Fix

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