6.2.3.5 Ensure rsyslog logging is configured

Information

The /etc/rsyslog.conf and /etc/rsyslog.d/*.conf files specifies rules for logging and which files are to be used to log certain classes of messages.

A great deal of important security-related information is sent via rsyslog (e.g., successful and failed su attempts, failed login attempts, root login attempts, etc.).

Note: This recommendation only applies if rsyslog is the chosen method for client side logging. Do not apply this recommendation if journald is used.

Solution

Edit the following lines in the /etc/rsyslog.conf and /etc/rsyslog.d/*.conf files as appropriate for your environment.

Note: The below configuration is shown for example purposes only. Due care should be given to how the organization wishes to store log data.

*.emerg :omusrmsg:*
auth,authpriv.* /var/log/secure
mail.* -/var/log/mail
mail.info -/var/log/mail.info
mail.warning -/var/log/mail.warn
mail.err /var/log/mail.err
cron.* /var/log/cron
*.=warning;*.=err -/var/log/warn
*.crit /var/log/warn
*.*;mail.none;news.none -/var/log/messages
local0,local1.* -/var/log/localmessages
local2,local3.* -/var/log/localmessages
local4,local5.* -/var/log/localmessages
local6,local7.* -/var/log/localmessages

Run the following command to reload the rsyslogd configuration:

# systemctl restart rsyslog

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/18208

Item Details

Category: AUDIT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

References: 800-53|AU-2, 800-53|AU-7, 800-53|AU-12, CSCv7|6.2, CSCv7|6.3

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 6a937b13f6b7dd7f2eb1d12535bb1877ed66f4165cabefc629b7cd3e868578f3