The macOS system must configure Apple System Log (ASL) files owned by root and group to wheel.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-268550	APPL-15-004001	SV-268550r1034590_rule		Medium

Description

The Apple System Logs must be owned by root. ASLs contain sensitive data about the system and users. Setting ASL files to be readable and writable only by system administrators mitigates the risk. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000205-GPOS-00083, SRG-OS-000206-GPOS-00084

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

Details

Check Text (C-72580r1034588_chk)

Verify the macOS system is configured with ASL files owned by root and group to wheel with the following command:

/usr/bin/stat -f '%Su:%Sg:%N' $(/usr/bin/grep -e '^>' /etc/asl.conf /etc/asl/* | /usr/bin/awk '{ print $2 }') 2> /dev/null | /usr/bin/awk '!/^root:wheel:/{print $1}' | /usr/bin/wc -l | /usr/bin/tr -d ' '

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

Fix Text (F-72481r1034589_fix)

Configure the macOS system with ASL files owned by root and group to wheel with the following command:

/usr/sbin/chown root:wheel $(/usr/bin/stat -f '%Su:%Sg:%N' $(/usr/bin/grep -e '^>' /etc/asl.conf /etc/asl/* | /usr/bin/awk '{ print $2 }') 2> /dev/null | /usr/bin/awk '!/^root:wheel:/{print $1}' | /usr/bin/awk -F":" '!/^root:wheel:/{print $3}')