8.1.5 Record Events That Modify User/Group Information - '/etc/passwd'

Information

Record events affecting the group, passwd (user IDs), shadow and gshadow (passwords) or
/etc/security/opasswd (old passwords, based on remember parameter in the PAM
configuration) files. The parameters in this section will watch the files to see if they have
been opened for write or have had attribute changes (e.g. permissions) and tag them with
the identifier 'identity' in the audit log file.

*Rationale*

Unexpected changes to these files could be an indication that the system has been
compromised and that an unauthorized user is attempting to hide their activities or
compromise additional accounts.

Solution

Add the following lines to the /etc/audit/audit.rules file.-w /etc/group -p wa -k identity
-w /etc/passwd -p wa -k identity
-w /etc/gshadow -p wa -k identity
-w /etc/shadow -p wa -k identity
-w /etc/security/opasswd -p wa -k identity
# Execute the following command to restart auditd
# pkill -P 1-HUP auditd

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/91

Item Details

Category: AUDIT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

References: 800-53|AU-12c.

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 0f398ee913c0458a2b686e8871461bd7e3605082f85ef02ecb5ae7d5f1e3c741