The macOS system must configure audit log folders to mode 700 or less permissive.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-268461	APPL-15-001017	SV-268461r1034323_rule		Medium

Description

The audit log folder must be configured to mode 700 or less permissive so that only the root user is able to read, write, and execute changes to folders. Because audit logs contain sensitive data about the system and users, the audit service must be configured to mode 700 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-72491r1034321_chk)

Verify the macOS system is configured with audit log folders set to mode 700 or less permissive with the following command:

/usr/bin/stat -f %A $(/usr/bin/grep '^dir' /etc/security/audit_control | /usr/bin/awk -F: '{print $2}')

If the result is not a mode of 700 or less permissive, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-72392r1034322_fix)

Configure the macOS system with audit log folders set to mode 700 with the following command:

/bin/chmod 700 /var/audit