STIGUI
V-260598CAT II — Medium severitySV-260598r958434_rule

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS must be configured to permit only authorized users ownership of the audit log files.

Rule version UBTU-22-653050 · STIG v2 · 2026-09-09

Discussion

Unauthorized disclosure of audit records can reveal system and configuration data to attackers, thus compromising its confidentiality.

Audit information includes all information (e.g., audit records, audit settings, audit reports) needed to successfully audit operating system activity.

Satisfies: SRG-OS-000057-GPOS-00027, SRG-OS-000058-GPOS-00028, SRG-OS-000059-GPOS-00029

Check

Verify the audit log files are owned by "root" account.

Determine where the audit logs are stored by using the following command:

     $ sudo grep -iw log_file /etc/audit/auditd.conf 
     log_file = /var/log/audit/audit.log  

Using the path of the directory containing the audit logs, determine if the audit log files are owned by the "root" user by using the following command:

     $ sudo stat -c "%n %U" /var/log/audit/* 
     /var/log/audit/audit.log root  

If the audit log files are owned by a user other than "root", this is a finding.

Fix

Configure the audit log directory and its underlying files to be owned by "root" user.

Using the path of the directory containing the audit logs, configure the audit log files to be owned by "root" user by using the following command:

     $ sudo chown root /var/log/audit/*

Identifiers

Group ID
V-260598
Group title
SRG-OS-000057-GPOS-00027
Rule ID
SV-260598r958434_rule
Check ID
C-64327r953605_chk
Fix ID
F-64235r953606_fix