STIGUI
V-274086CAT II — Medium severitySV-274086r1120246_rule

Amazon Linux 2023 must audit uses of the "execve" system call.

Rule version AZLX-23-002110 · STIG v1 · 2026-08-20

Discussion

Misuse of privileged functions, either intentionally or unintentionally by authorized users, or by unauthorized external entities that have compromised information system accounts, is a serious and ongoing concern and can have significant adverse impacts on organizations. Auditing the use of privileged functions is one way to detect such misuse and identify the risk from insider threats and the advanced persistent threat.

Satisfies: SRG-OS-000326-GPOS-00126, SRG-OS-000327-GPOS-00127

Check

Verify Amazon Linux 2023 is configured to audit the execution of the "execve" system call with the following command:

$ sudo auditctl -l | grep execve -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S execve -C uid!=euid -F euid=0 -k execpriv -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S execve -C gid!=egid -F egid=0 -k execpriv

If the command does not return all lines, or the lines are commented out, this is a finding.

Fix

Configure Amazon Linux 2023 to audit the execution of the "execve" system call.

Add or update the following file system rules to "/etc/audit/rules.d/audit.rules":

-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S execve -C uid!=euid -F euid=0 -k execpriv -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S execve -C gid!=egid -F egid=0 -k execpriv

To load the rules to the kernel immediately, use the following command:

$ sudo augenrules --load

Identifiers

Group ID
V-274086
Group title
SRG-OS-000326-GPOS-00126
Rule ID
SV-274086r1120246_rule
Check ID
C-78177r1120244_chk
Fix ID
F-78082r1120245_fix