The macOS system must configure audit log files to mode 440 or less permissive.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-268460	APPL-15-001016	SV-268460r1034320_rule		Medium

Description

The audit service must be configured to create log files that are readable only by the root user and group wheel. To achieve this, audit log files must be configured to mode 440 or less permissive to prevent normal users from reading, modifying, or deleting audit logs. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000057-GPOS-00027, SRG-OS-000058-GPOS-00028, SRG-OS-000059-GPOS-00029, SRG-OS-000256-GPOS-00097, SRG-OS-000257-GPOS-00098, SRG-OS-000258-GPOS-00099

STIG	Date
Apple macOS 15 (Sequoia) Security Technical Implementation Guide	2025-05-05

Details

Check Text (C-72490r1034318_chk)

Verify the macOS system is configured with audit log files set to mode 440 or less with the following command:

/bin/ls -l $(/usr/bin/grep '^dir' /etc/security/audit_control | /usr/bin/awk -F: '{print $2}') | /usr/bin/awk '!/-r--r-----|current|total/{print $1}' | /usr/bin/wc -l | /usr/bin/tr -d ' '

If the result is not "0", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-72391r1034319_fix)

Configure the macOS system with audit log files set to mode 440 with the following command:

/bin/chmod 440 /var/audit/*