The macOS system must configure audit_control owner to mode 440 or less permissive.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-268475	APPL-15-001130	SV-268475r1034365_rule		Medium

Description

/etc/security/audit_control must be configured so that it is readable only by the root user and group wheel. The audit service must be configured with the correct mode to prevent normal users from manipulating audit log configurations. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000057-GPOS-00027, SRG-OS-000058-GPOS-00028, SRG-OS-000059-GPOS-00029, SRG-OS-000063-GPOS-00032, 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-72505r1034363_chk)

Verify the macOS system is configured with the audit_control to mode 440 or less with the following command:

/bin/ls -l /etc/security/audit_control | /usr/bin/awk '!/-r--[r-]-----|current|total/{print $1}' | /usr/bin/wc -l | /usr/bin/xargs

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

Fix Text (F-72406r1034364_fix)

Configure the macOS system with the audit_control to mode 440 with the following command:

/bin/chmod 440 /etc/security/audit_control