APPL-11-003051 - The macOS system must be configured so that the su command requires smart card authentication.

Information

Configuring the operating system to implement organization-wide security implementation guides and security checklists ensures compliance with federal standards and establishes a common security baseline across DoD that reflects the most restrictive security posture consistent with operational requirements.

Configuration settings are the set of parameters that can be changed in hardware, software, or firmware components of the system that affect the security posture and/or functionality of the system. Security-related parameters are those parameters impacting the security state of the system, including the parameters required to satisfy other security control requirements. Security-related parameters include, for example: registry settings; account, file, directory permission settings; and settings for functions, ports, protocols, services, and remote connections.

Solution

Make a backup of the PAM SU settings using the following command:
cp /etc/pam.d/su /etc/pam.d/su_backup_'date '+%Y-%m-%d_%H:%M''

Replace the contents of '/etc/pam.d/su' with the following:

# su: auth account password session
auth sufficient pam_smartcard.so
auth required pam_rootok.so
auth required pam_group.so no_warn group=admin,wheel ruser root_only fail_safe
account required pam_permit.so
account required pam_opendirectory.so no_check_shell
password required pam_opendirectory.so
session required pam_launchd.so

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_Apple_macOS_11_V1R5_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

References: 800-53|CM-6b., CAT|II, CCI|CCI-000366, Rule-ID|SV-230840r599842_rule, STIG-ID|APPL-11-003051, Vuln-ID|V-230840

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: f8318785621f4cf105d867ebbbd42d0afd0f3e91e98eea7587948b44a98b4afa