Rule version TOSS-05-000397 · STIG v1 · 2026-08-20
The audit system should have an action setup in the event the internal event queue becomes full so that no data is lost. Information stored in one location is vulnerable to accidental or incidental deletion or alteration.
Off-loading is a common process in information systems with limited audit storage capacity.
Verify TOSS 5 audit system is configured to take an appropriate action when the internal event queue is full:
$ sudo grep -i overflow_action /etc/audit/auditd.conf
overflow_action = syslog
If the value of the "overflow_action" option is not set to "syslog", "single", "halt" or the line is commented out, ask the system administrator (SA) to indicate how the audit logs are off-loaded to a different system or media. If there is no evidence that the transfer of the audit logs being off-loaded to another system or media takes appropriate action if the internal event queue becomes full, this is a finding.
Edit the "/etc/audit/auditd.conf" file and add or update the "overflow_action" option:
overflow_action = syslog
Restart the audit daemon for changes to take effect.