RHEL 9 audit log directory must be owned by root to prevent unauthorized read access.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-258166	SRG-OS-000057-GPOS-00027	RHEL-09-653085	SV-258166r1045303_rule	2025-02-27	2

Description
Unauthorized disclosure of audit records can reveal system and configuration data to attackers, thus compromising its confidentiality. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000057-GPOS-00027, SRG-OS-000058-GPOS-00028, SRG-OS-000059-GPOS-00029, SRG-OS-000206-GPOS-00084

ℹ️ Check
Verify the audit logs directory is owned by "root". Determine where the audit logs are stored with the following command: $ sudo grep -iw log_file /etc/audit/auditd.conf log_file = /var/log/audit/audit.log Using the location of the audit log file, determine if the audit log directory is owned by "root" using the following command: $ sudo stat -c '%U %n' /var/log/audit root /var/log/audit If the audit log directory is not owned by "root", this is a finding.

ℹ️ Check

Verify the audit logs directory is owned by "root". Determine where the audit logs are stored with the following command: $ sudo grep -iw log_file /etc/audit/auditd.conf log_file = /var/log/audit/audit.log Using the location of the audit log file, determine if the audit log directory is owned by "root" using the following command: $ sudo stat -c '%U %n' /var/log/audit root /var/log/audit If the audit log directory is not owned by "root", this is a finding.

✔️ Fix
Configure the audit log to be protected from unauthorized read access by setting the correct owner as "root" with the following command: $ sudo chown root /var/log/audit