APPL-14-001024 - The macOS system must be configured to audit all failed program execution on the system.

Information

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.

Satisfies: SRG-OS-000463-GPOS-00207,SRG-OS-000365-GPOS-00152,SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203,SRG-OS-000465-GPOS-00209

Solution

Configure the macOS system to audit all failed program execution on the system with the following command:

/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

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_Apple_macOS_14_V2R1_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: AUDIT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

References: 800-53|AU-12c., CAT|II, CCI|CCI-000172, CCI|CCI-003938, Rule-ID|SV-259466r991573_rule, STIG-ID|APPL-14-001024, Vuln-ID|V-259466

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 527a31674548dc74efd1f084a9ac099d31f04874bd3a0e7d10bc9038cde0c3bd