Guide to the Secure Configuration of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8

with profile Standard System Security Profile for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
This profile contains rules to ensure standard security baseline of a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 system. Regardless of your system's workload all of these checks should pass.
The SCAP Security Guide Project
https://www.open-scap.org/security-policies/scap-security-guide
This guide presents a catalog of security-relevant configuration settings for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8. It is a rendering of content structured in the eXtensible Configuration Checklist Description Format (XCCDF) in order to support security automation. The SCAP content is is available in the scap-security-guide package which is developed at https://www.open-scap.org/security-policies/scap-security-guide.

Providing system administrators with such guidance informs them how to securely configure systems under their control in a variety of network roles. Policy makers and baseline creators can use this catalog of settings, with its associated references to higher-level security control catalogs, in order to assist them in security baseline creation. This guide is a catalog, not a checklist, and satisfaction of every item is not likely to be possible or sensible in many operational scenarios. However, the XCCDF format enables granular selection and adjustment of settings, and their association with OVAL and OCIL content provides an automated checking capability. Transformations of this document, and its associated automated checking content, are capable of providing baselines that meet a diverse set of policy objectives. Some example XCCDF Profiles, which are selections of items that form checklists and can be used as baselines, are available with this guide. They can be processed, in an automated fashion, with tools that support the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP). The DISA STIG, which provides required settings for US Department of Defense systems, is one example of a baseline created from this guidance.

This benchmark is a direct port of a SCAP Security Guide benchmark developed for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It has been modified through an automated process to remove specific dependencies on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and to function with CentOS. The result is a generally useful SCAP Security Guide benchmark with the following caveats:

  • CentOS is not an exact copy of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. There may be configuration differences that produce false positives and/or false negatives. If this occurs please file a bug report.
  • CentOS has its own build system, compiler options, patchsets, and is a community supported, non-commercial operating system. CentOS does not inherit certifications or evaluations from Red Hat Enterprise Linux. As such, some configuration rules (such as those requiring FIPS 140-2 encryption) will continue to fail on CentOS.

Members of the CentOS community are invited to participate in OpenSCAP and SCAP Security Guide development. Bug reports and patches can be sent to GitHub: https://github.com/OpenSCAP/scap-security-guide. The mailing list is at https://fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/scap-security-guide.

Do not attempt to implement any of the settings in this guide without first testing them in a non-operational environment. The creators of this guidance assume no responsibility whatsoever for its use by other parties, and makes no guarantees, expressed or implied, about its quality, reliability, or any other characteristic.

Profile Information

Profile TitleStandard System Security Profile for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
Profile IDxccdf_org.ssgproject.content_profile_standard

CPE Platforms

  • cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8
  • cpe:/o:centos:centos:8

Revision History

Current version: 0.1.44

  • draft (as of 2019-05-03)

Table of Contents

  1. Services
    1. Cron and At Daemons
    2. Base Services
  2. System Settings
    1. Installing and Maintaining Software
    2. Configure Syslog
    3. Account and Access Control
    4. System Accounting with auditd
    5. File Permissions and Masks

Checklist

Group   Guide to the Secure Configuration of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8   Group contains 29 groups and 57 rules
Group   Services   Group contains 2 groups and 6 rules

[ref]   The best protection against vulnerable software is running less software. This section describes how to review the software which Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 installs on a system and disable software which is not needed. It then enumerates the software packages installed on a default Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 system and provides guidance about which ones can be safely disabled.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 provides a convenient minimal install option that essentially installs the bare necessities for a functional system. When building Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 systems, it is highly recommended to select the minimal packages and then build up the system from there.

Group   Cron and At Daemons   Group contains 1 rule

[ref]   The cron and at services are used to allow commands to be executed at a later time. The cron service is required by almost all systems to perform necessary maintenance tasks, while at may or may not be required on a given system. Both daemons should be configured defensively.

Rule   Disable At Service (atd)   [ref]

The at and batch commands can be used to schedule tasks that are meant to be executed only once. This allows delayed execution in a manner similar to cron, except that it is not recurring. The daemon atd keeps track of tasks scheduled via at and batch, and executes them at the specified time. The atd service can be disabled with the following command: 

$ sudo systemctl disable atd.service

Rationale:

The atd service could be used by an unsophisticated insider to carry out activities outside of a normal login session, which could complicate accountability. Furthermore, the need to schedule tasks with at or batch is not common.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  11, 14, 3, 9, BAI10.01, BAI10.02, BAI10.03, BAI10.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.05, DSS06.06, CCI-000381, 4.3.3.5.1, 4.3.3.5.2, 4.3.3.5.3, 4.3.3.5.4, 4.3.3.5.5, 4.3.3.5.6, 4.3.3.5.7, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.1, 4.3.3.6.2, 4.3.3.6.3, 4.3.3.6.4, 4.3.3.6.5, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.3.6.7, 4.3.3.6.8, 4.3.3.6.9, 4.3.3.7.1, 4.3.3.7.2, 4.3.3.7.3, 4.3.3.7.4, 4.3.4.3.2, 4.3.4.3.3, SR 1.1, SR 1.10, SR 1.11, SR 1.12, SR 1.13, SR 1.2, SR 1.3, SR 1.4, SR 1.5, SR 1.6, SR 1.7, SR 1.8, SR 1.9, SR 2.1, SR 2.2, SR 2.3, SR 2.4, SR 2.5, SR 2.6, SR 2.7, SR 7.6, A.12.1.2, A.12.5.1, A.12.6.2, A.14.2.2, A.14.2.3, A.14.2.4, A.9.1.2, CM-7, PR.IP-1, PR.PT-3

Group   Base Services   Group contains 5 rules

[ref]   This section addresses the base services that are installed on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 default installation which are not covered in other sections. Some of these services listen on the network and should be treated with particular discretion. Other services are local system utilities that may or may not be extraneous. In general, system services should be disabled if not required.

Rule   Disable Network Router Discovery Daemon (rdisc)   [ref]

The rdisc service implements the client side of the ICMP Internet Router Discovery Protocol (IRDP), which allows discovery of routers on the local subnet. If a router is discovered then the local routing table is updated with a corresponding default route. By default this daemon is disabled. The rdisc service can be disabled with the following command: 

$ sudo systemctl disable rdisc.service

Rationale:

General-purpose systems typically have their network and routing information configured statically by a system administrator. Workstations or some special-purpose systems often use DHCP (instead of IRDP) to retrieve dynamic network configuration information.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, APO01.06, APO13.01, BAI10.01, BAI10.02, BAI10.03, BAI10.05, DSS01.04, DSS01.05, DSS03.01, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, DSS06.02, DSS06.06, CCI-000382, 4.2.3.4, 4.3.3.4, 4.3.3.5.1, 4.3.3.5.2, 4.3.3.5.3, 4.3.3.5.4, 4.3.3.5.5, 4.3.3.5.6, 4.3.3.5.7, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.1, 4.3.3.6.2, 4.3.3.6.3, 4.3.3.6.4, 4.3.3.6.5, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.3.6.7, 4.3.3.6.8, 4.3.3.6.9, 4.3.3.7.1, 4.3.3.7.2, 4.3.3.7.3, 4.3.3.7.4, 4.3.4.3.2, 4.3.4.3.3, 4.4.3.3, SR 1.1, SR 1.10, SR 1.11, SR 1.12, SR 1.13, SR 1.2, SR 1.3, SR 1.4, SR 1.5, SR 1.6, SR 1.7, SR 1.8, SR 1.9, SR 2.1, SR 2.2, SR 2.3, SR 2.4, SR 2.5, SR 2.6, SR 2.7, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.10.1.1, A.11.1.4, A.11.1.5, A.11.2.1, A.11.2.6, A.12.1.1, A.12.1.2, A.12.5.1, A.12.6.2, A.13.1.1, A.13.1.2, A.13.1.3, A.13.2.1, A.13.2.2, A.13.2.3, A.13.2.4, A.14.1.2, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.2, A.14.2.3, A.14.2.4, A.6.1.2, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, A.7.1.1, A.7.1.2, A.7.3.1, A.8.2.2, A.8.2.3, A.9.1.1, A.9.1.2, A.9.2.3, A.9.4.1, A.9.4.4, A.9.4.5, AC-17(8), AC-4, CM-7, DE.AE-1, ID.AM-3, PR.AC-3, PR.AC-5, PR.DS-5, PR.IP-1, PR.PT-3, PR.PT-4

Rule   Disable Odd Job Daemon (oddjobd)   [ref]

The oddjobd service exists to provide an interface and access control mechanism through which specified privileged tasks can run tasks for unprivileged client applications. Communication with oddjobd through the system message bus. The oddjobd service can be disabled with the following command: 

$ sudo systemctl disable oddjobd.service

Rationale:

The oddjobd service may provide necessary functionality in some environments, and can be disabled if it is not needed. Execution of tasks by privileged programs, on behalf of unprivileged ones, has traditionally been a source of privilege escalation security issues.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  11, 14, 3, 9, BAI10.01, BAI10.02, BAI10.03, BAI10.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.05, DSS06.06, CCI-000381, 4.3.3.5.1, 4.3.3.5.2, 4.3.3.5.3, 4.3.3.5.4, 4.3.3.5.5, 4.3.3.5.6, 4.3.3.5.7, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.1, 4.3.3.6.2, 4.3.3.6.3, 4.3.3.6.4, 4.3.3.6.5, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.3.6.7, 4.3.3.6.8, 4.3.3.6.9, 4.3.3.7.1, 4.3.3.7.2, 4.3.3.7.3, 4.3.3.7.4, 4.3.4.3.2, 4.3.4.3.3, SR 1.1, SR 1.10, SR 1.11, SR 1.12, SR 1.13, SR 1.2, SR 1.3, SR 1.4, SR 1.5, SR 1.6, SR 1.7, SR 1.8, SR 1.9, SR 2.1, SR 2.2, SR 2.3, SR 2.4, SR 2.5, SR 2.6, SR 2.7, SR 7.6, A.12.1.2, A.12.5.1, A.12.6.2, A.14.2.2, A.14.2.3, A.14.2.4, A.9.1.2, CM-7, PR.IP-1, PR.PT-3

Rule   Disable Apache Qpid (qpidd)   [ref]

The qpidd service provides high speed, secure, guaranteed delivery services. It is an implementation of the Advanced Message Queuing Protocol. By default the qpidd service will bind to port 5672 and listen for connection attempts. The qpidd service can be disabled with the following command: 

$ sudo systemctl disable qpidd.service

Rationale:

The qpidd service is automatically installed when the "base" package selection is selected during installation. The qpidd service listens for network connections, which increases the attack surface of the system. If the system is not intended to receive AMQP traffic, then the qpidd service is not needed and should be disabled or removed.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  11, 12, 14, 15, 3, 8, 9, APO13.01, BAI10.01, BAI10.02, BAI10.03, BAI10.05, DSS01.04, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.05, DSS06.06, CCI-000382, 4.3.3.5.1, 4.3.3.5.2, 4.3.3.5.3, 4.3.3.5.4, 4.3.3.5.5, 4.3.3.5.6, 4.3.3.5.7, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.1, 4.3.3.6.2, 4.3.3.6.3, 4.3.3.6.4, 4.3.3.6.5, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.3.6.7, 4.3.3.6.8, 4.3.3.6.9, 4.3.3.7.1, 4.3.3.7.2, 4.3.3.7.3, 4.3.3.7.4, 4.3.4.3.2, 4.3.4.3.3, SR 1.1, SR 1.10, SR 1.11, SR 1.12, SR 1.13, SR 1.2, SR 1.3, SR 1.4, SR 1.5, SR 1.6, SR 1.7, SR 1.8, SR 1.9, SR 2.1, SR 2.2, SR 2.3, SR 2.4, SR 2.5, SR 2.6, SR 2.7, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.1.2, A.12.5.1, A.12.6.2, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.2, A.14.2.3, A.14.2.4, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, A.9.1.2, AC-17(8), CM-7, PR.AC-3, PR.IP-1, PR.PT-3, PR.PT-4

Rule   Disable Automatic Bug Reporting Tool (abrtd)   [ref]

The Automatic Bug Reporting Tool (abrtd) daemon collects and reports crash data when an application crash is detected. Using a variety of plugins, abrtd can email crash reports to system administrators, log crash reports to files, or forward crash reports to a centralized issue tracking system such as RHTSupport. The abrtd service can be disabled with the following command: 

$ sudo systemctl disable abrtd.service

Rationale:

Mishandling crash data could expose sensitive information about vulnerabilities in software executing on the system, as well as sensitive information from within a process's address space or registers.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  11, 12, 14, 15, 3, 8, 9, APO13.01, BAI10.01, BAI10.02, BAI10.03, BAI10.05, DSS01.04, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.05, DSS06.06, 4.3.3.5.1, 4.3.3.5.2, 4.3.3.5.3, 4.3.3.5.4, 4.3.3.5.5, 4.3.3.5.6, 4.3.3.5.7, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.1, 4.3.3.6.2, 4.3.3.6.3, 4.3.3.6.4, 4.3.3.6.5, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.3.6.7, 4.3.3.6.8, 4.3.3.6.9, 4.3.3.7.1, 4.3.3.7.2, 4.3.3.7.3, 4.3.3.7.4, 4.3.4.3.2, 4.3.4.3.3, SR 1.1, SR 1.10, SR 1.11, SR 1.12, SR 1.13, SR 1.2, SR 1.3, SR 1.4, SR 1.5, SR 1.6, SR 1.7, SR 1.8, SR 1.9, SR 2.1, SR 2.2, SR 2.3, SR 2.4, SR 2.5, SR 2.6, SR 2.7, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.1.2, A.12.5.1, A.12.6.2, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.2, A.14.2.3, A.14.2.4, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, A.9.1.2, AC-17(8), CM-7, PR.AC-3, PR.IP-1, PR.PT-3, PR.PT-4

Rule   Disable ntpdate Service (ntpdate)   [ref]

The ntpdate service sets the local hardware clock by polling NTP servers when the system boots. It synchronizes to the NTP servers listed in /etc/ntp/step-tickers or /etc/ntp.conf and then sets the local hardware clock to the newly synchronized system time. The ntpdate service can be disabled with the following command: 

$ sudo systemctl disable ntpdate.service

Rationale:

The ntpdate service may only be suitable for systems which are rebooted frequently enough that clock drift does not cause problems between reboots. In any event, the functionality of the ntpdate service is now available in the ntpd program and should be considered deprecated.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  11, 12, 14, 15, 3, 8, 9, APO13.01, BAI10.01, BAI10.02, BAI10.03, BAI10.05, DSS01.04, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.05, DSS06.06, CCI-000382, 4.3.3.5.1, 4.3.3.5.2, 4.3.3.5.3, 4.3.3.5.4, 4.3.3.5.5, 4.3.3.5.6, 4.3.3.5.7, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.1, 4.3.3.6.2, 4.3.3.6.3, 4.3.3.6.4, 4.3.3.6.5, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.3.6.7, 4.3.3.6.8, 4.3.3.6.9, 4.3.3.7.1, 4.3.3.7.2, 4.3.3.7.3, 4.3.3.7.4, 4.3.4.3.2, 4.3.4.3.3, SR 1.1, SR 1.10, SR 1.11, SR 1.12, SR 1.13, SR 1.2, SR 1.3, SR 1.4, SR 1.5, SR 1.6, SR 1.7, SR 1.8, SR 1.9, SR 2.1, SR 2.2, SR 2.3, SR 2.4, SR 2.5, SR 2.6, SR 2.7, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.1.2, A.12.5.1, A.12.6.2, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.2, A.14.2.3, A.14.2.4, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, A.9.1.2, AC-17(8), CM-7, PR.AC-3, PR.IP-1, PR.PT-3, PR.PT-4

Group   System Settings   Group contains 25 groups and 51 rules

[ref]   Contains rules that check correct system settings.

Group   Installing and Maintaining Software   Group contains 6 groups and 13 rules

[ref]   The following sections contain information on security-relevant choices during the initial operating system installation process and the setup of software updates.

Group   Disk Partitioning   Group contains 2 rules

[ref]   To ensure separation and protection of data, there are top-level system directories which should be placed on their own physical partition or logical volume. The installer's default partitioning scheme creates separate logical volumes for /, /boot, and swap.

  • If starting with any of the default layouts, check the box to \"Review and modify partitioning.\" This allows for the easy creation of additional logical volumes inside the volume group already created, though it may require making /'s logical volume smaller to create space. In general, using logical volumes is preferable to using partitions because they can be more easily adjusted later.
  • If creating a custom layout, create the partitions mentioned in the previous paragraph (which the installer will require anyway), as well as separate ones described in the following sections.
If a system has already been installed, and the default partitioning scheme was used, it is possible but nontrivial to modify it to create separate logical volumes for the directories listed above. The Logical Volume Manager (LVM) makes this possible. See the LVM HOWTO at http://tldp.org/HOWTO/LVM-HOWTO/ for more detailed information on LVM.

Rule   Ensure /var/log/audit Located On Separate Partition   [ref]

Audit logs are stored in the /var/log/audit directory. Ensure that it has its own partition or logical volume at installation time, or migrate it later using LVM. Make absolutely certain that it is large enough to store all audit logs that will be created by the auditing daemon.

Rationale:

Placing /var/log/audit in its own partition enables better separation between audit files and other files, and helps ensure that auditing cannot be halted due to the partition running out of space.

Severity: 
low
Identifiers and References

References:  1.1.12, 1, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, APO11.04, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI04.04, DSS05.02, DSS05.04, DSS05.07, MEA02.01, CCI-000366, 164.312(a)(2)(ii), 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 7.1, SR 7.2, SR 7.6, A.12.1.3, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.17.2.1, AU-4, AU-9, SC-32(1), PR.DS-4, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227, SRG-OS-000341-VMM-001220

Rule   Ensure /var/log Located On Separate Partition   [ref]

System logs are stored in the /var/log directory. Ensure that it has its own partition or logical volume at installation time, or migrate it using LVM.

Rationale:

Placing /var/log in its own partition enables better separation between log files and other files in /var/.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  1.1.11, 1, 12, 14, 15, 16, 3, 5, 6, 8, APO11.04, APO13.01, BAI03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.04, DSS05.07, MEA02.01, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, AU-9, SC-32, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4

Group   System and Software Integrity   Group contains 3 groups and 8 rules

[ref]   System and software integrity can be gained by installing antivirus, increasing system encryption strength with FIPS, verifying installed software, enabling SELinux, installing an Intrusion Prevention System, etc. However, installing or enabling integrity checking tools cannot prevent intrusions, but they can detect that an intrusion may have occurred. Requirements for integrity checking may be highly dependent on the environment in which the system will be used. Snapshot-based approaches such as AIDE may induce considerable overhead in the presence of frequent software updates.

Group   System Cryptographic Policies   Group contains 6 rules

[ref]   Linux has the capability to centrally configure cryptographic polices. The command update-crypto-policies is used to set the policy applicable for the various cryptographic back-ends, such as SSL/TLS libraries. The configured cryptographic policies will be the default policy used by these backends unless the application user configures them otherwise. When the system has been configured to use the centralized cryptographic policies, the administrator is assured that any application that utilizes the supported backends will follow a policy that adheres to the configured profile. Currently the supported backends are:

  • GnuTLS library
  • OpenSSL library
  • NSS library
  • OpenJDK
  • Libkrb5
  • BIND
  • OpenSSH
Applications and languages which rely on any of these backends will follow the system policies as well. Examples are apache httpd, nginx, php, and others.

Rule   Configure OpenSSL library to use System Crypto Policy   [ref]

Crypto Policies provide a centralized control over crypto algorithms usage of many packages. OpenSSL is supported by crypto policy, but the OpenSSL configuration may be set up to ignore it. To check that Crypto Policies settings are configured correctly, you have to examine the OpenSSL config file available under /etc/pki/tls/openssl.cnf. This file has the ini format, and it enables crypto policy support if there is a [ crypto_policy ] section that contains the .include /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/openssl.config directive.

Rationale:

Overriding the system crypto policy makes the behavior of the Java runtime violates expectations, and makes system configuration more fragmented.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References
Remediation Shell script:   (show)


OPENSSL_CRYPTO_POLICY_SECTION='[ crypto_policy ]'
OPENSSL_CRYPTO_POLICY_SECTION_REGEX='\[\s*crypto_policy\s*\]'
OPENSSL_CRYPTO_POLICY_INCLUSION='.include /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/openssl.config'
OPENSSL_CRYPTO_POLICY_INCLUSION_REGEX='^\s*\.include\s*/etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/openssl.config$'

function remediate_openssl_crypto_policy() {
	CONFIG_FILE="/etc/pki/tls/openssl.cnf"
	if test -f "$CONFIG_FILE"; then
		if ! grep -q "^\\s*$OPENSSL_CRYPTO_POLICY_SECTION_REGEX" "$CONFIG_FILE"; then
			printf '\n%s\n\n%s' "$OPENSSL_CRYPTO_POLICY_SECTION" "$OPENSSL_CRYPTO_POLICY_INCLUSION" >> "$CONFIG_FILE"
			return 0
		elif ! grep -q "^\\s*$OPENSSL_CRYPTO_POLICY_INCLUSION_REGEX" "$CONFIG_FILE"; then
			sed -i "s|$OPENSSL_CRYPTO_POLICY_SECTION_REGEX|&\\n\\n$OPENSSL_CRYPTO_POLICY_INCLUSION\\n|" "$CONFIG_FILE"
			return 0
		fi
	else
		echo "Aborting remediation as '$CONFIG_FILE' was not even found." >&2
		return 1
	fi
}

remediate_openssl_crypto_policy

Rule   Configure Kerberos to use System Crypto Policy   [ref]

Crypto Policies provide a centralized control over crypto algorithms usage of many packages. Kerberos is supported by crypto policy, but it's configuration may be set up to ignore it. To check that Crypto Policies settings for Kerberos are configured correctly, examine that there is a symlink at /etc/krb5.conf.d/crypto-policies targeting /etc/cypto-policies/back-ends/krb5.config. If the symlink exists, kerberos is configured to use the system-wide crypto policy settings.

Rationale:

Overriding the system crypto policy makes the behavior of Kerberos violate expectations, and makes system configuration more fragmented.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References
Remediation Shell script:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:low
Reboot:true
Strategy:configure

rm -f /etc/krb5.conf.d/crypto-policies
ln -s /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/krb5.config /etc/krb5.conf.d/crypto-policies
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:low
Reboot:true
Strategy:configure
- name: Configure Kerberos to use System Crypto Policy
  file:
    src: /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/krb5.config
    path: /etc/krb5.conf.d/crypto-policies
    state: link
  tags:
    - configure_kerberos_crypto_policy
    - medium_severity
    - configure_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required

Rule   Configure System Cryptography Policy   [ref]

To configure the system cyptography policy to use ciphers only from the DEFAULT policy, run the following command: 

$ sudo update-crypto-policies --set DEFAULT

Warning:  The system needs to be rebooted for these changes to take effect.
Warning:  The Federal Information Systems Modernization Act (FISMA), requires cryptography protecting sensitive or valuable data to undergo FIPS 140 validation. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) views unvalidated cryptography as providing no protection to the information or data—in effect the data would be considered unprotected plaintext. If the agency specifies that the information or data be cryptographically protected, FIPS 140 is applicable. This configuration check will fail on platforms lacking FIPS 140 validation, such as the CentOS, Scientific Linux, and Fedora projects, even if FIPS-approved ciphers can be installed and enabled.

See https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/cryptographic-module-validation-program for more information about the Cryptographic Validation Program.

A list of FIPS validated cryptographic modules can be found at http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/STM/cmvp/documents/140-1/1401vend.htm. The validated cryptographic modules only apply to the products and companies listed in the active validation list.
Rationale:

Centralized cryptographic policies simplify applying secure ciphers across an operating system and the applications that run on that operating system. Use of weak or untested encryption algorithms undermines the purposes of utilizing encryption to protect data.

Severity: 
high
Identifiers and References
Remediation Shell script:   (show)


var_system_crypto_policy="DEFAULT"

update-crypto-policies --set ${var_system_crypto_policy}
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:low
Strategy:restrict
- name: XCCDF Value var_system_crypto_policy # promote to variable
  set_fact:
    var_system_crypto_policy: !!str DEFAULT
  tags:
    - always

- name: Configure System Cryptography Policy
  lineinfile:
    path: /etc/crypto-policies/config
    regexp: ^(?!#)(\S+)$
    line: '{{ var_system_crypto_policy }}'
    create: true
  tags:
    - configure_crypto_policy
    - high_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed

- name: Verify that Crypto Policy is Set (runtime)
  command: /usr/bin/update-crypto-policies --set {{ var_system_crypto_policy }}
  tags:
    - configure_crypto_policy
    - high_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed

Rule   Configure SSH to use System Crypto Policy   [ref]

Crypto Policies provide a centralized control over crypto algorithms usage of many packages. SSH is supported by crypto policy, but the SSH configuration may be set up to ignore it. To check that Crypto Policies settings are configured correctly, ensure that the CRYPTO_POLICY variable is either commented or not set at all in the /etc/sysconfig/sshd.

Rationale:

Overriding the system crypto policy makes the behavior of the SSH service violate expectations, and makes system configuration more fragmented.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References
Remediation Shell script:   (show)


SSH_CONF="/etc/sysconfig/sshd"

sed -i "/^\s*CRYPTO_POLICY.*$/d" $SSH_CONF
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:medium
Reboot:true
Strategy:disable
- name: Configure SSH to use System Crypto Policy
  lineinfile:
    dest: /etc/sysconfig/sshd
    state: absent
    regexp: ^\s*CRYPTO_POLICY.*$
  tags:
    - configure_ssh_crypto_policy
    - medium_severity
    - disable_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - reboot_required

Rule   Configure BIND to use System Crypto Policy   [ref]

Crypto Policies provide a centralized control over crypto algorithms usage of many packages. BIND is supported by crypto policy, but the BIND configuration may be set up to ignore it. To check that Crypto Policies settings are configured correctly, ensure that the /etc/named.conf includes the appropriate configuration: In the options section of /etc/named.conf, make sure that the following line is not commented out or superseded by later includes: include "/etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/bind.config";

Rationale:

Overriding the system crypto policy makes the behavior of the BIND service violate expectations, and makes system configuration more fragmented.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References
Remediation Shell script:   (show)


function remediate_bind_crypto_policy() {
	CONFIG_FILE="/etc/named.conf"
	if test -f "$CONFIG_FILE"; then
		sed -i 's|options {|&\n\tinclude "/etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/bind.config";|' "$CONFIG_FILE"
		return 0
	else
		echo "Aborting remediation as '$CONFIG_FILE' was not even found." >&2
		return 1
	fi
}

remediate_bind_crypto_policy

Rule   Configure Libreswan to use System Crypto Policy   [ref]

Crypto Policies provide a centralized control over crypto algorithms usage of many packages. Libreswan is supported by system crypto policy, but the Libreswan configuration may be set up to ignore it. To check that Crypto Policies settings are configured correctly, ensure that the /etc/ipsec.conf includes the appropriate configuration file. In /etc/ipsec.conf, make sure that the following line is not commented out or superseded by later includes: include /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/libreswan.config

Rationale:

Overriding the system crypto policy makes the behavior of the Libreswan service violate expectations, and makes system configuration more fragmented.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References
Remediation Shell script:   (show)


function remediate_libreswan_crypto_policy() {
    CONFIG_FILE="/etc/ipsec.conf"
    if ! grep -qP "^\s*include\s+/etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/libreswan.config\s*(?:|(?:#.*))$" "$CONFIG_FILE" ; then
        echo 'include /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/libreswan.config' >> "$CONFIG_FILE"
    fi
    return 0
}

remediate_libreswan_crypto_policy
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:low
Strategy:restrict
- name: Configure Libreswan to use System Crypto Policy
  lineinfile:
    path: /etc/ipsec.conf
    line: include /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/libreswan.config
    create: true
  tags:
    - configure_libreswan_crypto_policy
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
Group   Software Integrity Checking   Group contains 1 group and 2 rules

[ref]   Both the AIDE (Advanced Intrusion Detection Environment) software and the RPM package management system provide mechanisms for verifying the integrity of installed software. AIDE uses snapshots of file metadata (such as hashes) and compares these to current system files in order to detect changes.

The RPM package management system can conduct integrity checks by comparing information in its metadata database with files installed on the system.

Group   Verify Integrity with RPM   Group contains 2 rules

[ref]   The RPM package management system includes the ability to verify the integrity of installed packages by comparing the installed files with information about the files taken from the package metadata stored in the RPM database. Although an attacker could corrupt the RPM database (analogous to attacking the AIDE database as described above), this check can still reveal modification of important files. To list which files on the system differ from what is expected by the RPM database: 

$ rpm -qVa
See the man page for rpm to see a complete explanation of each column.

Rule   Verify and Correct File Permissions with RPM   [ref]

The RPM package management system can check file access permissions of installed software packages, including many that are important to system security. Verify that the file permissions of system files and commands match vendor values. Check the file permissions with the following command: 

$ sudo rpm -Va | awk '{ if (substr($0,2,1)=="M") print $NF }'
Output indicates files that do not match vendor defaults. After locating a file with incorrect permissions, run the following command to determine which package owns it: 
$ rpm -qf FILENAME

Next, run the following command to reset its permissions to the correct values: 
$ sudo rpm --setperms PACKAGENAME

Warning:  Note: Due to a bug in the gdm package, the RPM verify command may continue to fail even after file permissions have been correctly set on /var/log/gdm. This is being tracked in Red Hat Bugzilla #1277603.
Rationale:

Permissions on system binaries and configuration files that are too generous could allow an unauthorized user to gain privileges that they should not have. The permissions set by the vendor should be maintained. Any deviations from this baseline should be investigated.

Severity: 
high
Identifiers and References

References:  1.2.6, 6.1.3, 6.1.4, 6.1.5, 6.1.6, 6.1.7, 6.1.8, 6.1.9, 6.2.3, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 3, 5, 6, 9, 5.10.4.1, APO01.06, APO11.04, BAI03.05, BAI10.01, BAI10.02, BAI10.03, BAI10.05, DSS05.04, DSS05.07, DSS06.02, MEA02.01, 3.3.8, 3.4.1, CCI-001494, CCI-001496, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.312(b), 164.312(c)(1), 164.312(c)(2), 164.312(e)(2)(i), 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.7.3, 4.3.4.3.2, 4.3.4.3.3, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 2.1, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 5.2, SR 7.6, A.10.1.1, A.11.1.4, A.11.1.5, A.11.2.1, A.12.1.2, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.5.1, A.12.6.2, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.1.3, A.13.2.1, A.13.2.3, A.13.2.4, A.14.1.2, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.2, A.14.2.3, A.14.2.4, A.6.1.2, A.7.1.1, A.7.1.2, A.7.3.1, A.8.2.2, A.8.2.3, A.9.1.1, A.9.1.2, A.9.2.3, A.9.4.1, A.9.4.4, A.9.4.5, AC-6, AU-9(1), AU-9(3), CM-6(d), CM-6(3), PR.AC-4, PR.DS-5, PR.IP-1, PR.PT-1, Req-11.5, SRG-OS-000257-GPOS-00098, SRG-OS-000278-GPOS-00108

Remediation Shell script:   (show)

Complexity:high
Disruption:medium
Strategy:restrict

# Declare array to hold list of RPM packages we need to correct permissions for
declare -a SETPERMS_RPM_LIST

# Create a list of files on the system having permissions different from what
# is expected by the RPM database
FILES_WITH_INCORRECT_PERMS=($(rpm -Va --nofiledigest | awk '{ if (substr($0,2,1)=="M") print $NF }'))

# For each file path from that list:
# * Determine the RPM package the file path is shipped by,
# * Include it into SETPERMS_RPM_LIST array

for FILE_PATH in "${FILES_WITH_INCORRECT_PERMS[@]}"
do
	RPM_PACKAGE=$(rpm -qf "$FILE_PATH")
	SETPERMS_RPM_LIST=("${SETPERMS_RPM_LIST[@]}" "$RPM_PACKAGE")
done

# Remove duplicate mention of same RPM in $SETPERMS_RPM_LIST (if any)
SETPERMS_RPM_LIST=( $(echo "${SETPERMS_RPM_LIST[@]}" | tr ' ' '\n' | sort -u | tr '\n' ' ') )

# For each of the RPM packages left in the list -- reset its permissions to the
# correct values
for RPM_PACKAGE in "${SETPERMS_RPM_LIST[@]}"
do
	rpm --setperms "${RPM_PACKAGE}"
done
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:high
Disruption:medium
Strategy:restrict
- name: Read list of files with incorrect permissions
  shell: 'set -o pipefail

    rpm -Va --nofiledigest | awk ''{ if (substr($0,2,1)=="M") print $NF }''

    '
  args:
    warn: false
    executable: /bin/bash
  register: files_with_incorrect_permissions
  failed_when: false
  changed_when: false
  check_mode: false
  tags:
    - rpm_verify_permissions
    - high_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - high_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - PCI-DSS-Req-11.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.3.8
    - NIST-800-171-3.4.1
    - NIST-800-53-AC-6
    - NIST-800-53-AU-9(1)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-9(3)
    - NIST-800-53-CM-6(d)
    - NIST-800-53-CM-6(3)
    - CJIS-5.10.4.1

- name: Correct file permissions with RPM
  shell: rpm --setperms $(rpm -qf '{{ item }}')
  args:
    warn: false
  with_items: '{{ files_with_incorrect_permissions.stdout_lines }}'
  when: (files_with_incorrect_permissions.stdout_lines | length > 0)
  tags:
    - rpm_verify_permissions
    - high_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - high_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - PCI-DSS-Req-11.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.3.8
    - NIST-800-171-3.4.1
    - NIST-800-53-AC-6
    - NIST-800-53-AU-9(1)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-9(3)
    - NIST-800-53-CM-6(d)
    - NIST-800-53-CM-6(3)
    - CJIS-5.10.4.1

Rule   Verify File Hashes with RPM   [ref]

Without cryptographic integrity protections, system executables and files can be altered by unauthorized users without detection. The RPM package management system can check the hashes of installed software packages, including many that are important to system security. To verify that the cryptographic hash of system files and commands match vendor values, run the following command to list which files on the system have hashes that differ from what is expected by the RPM database: 

$ rpm -Va | grep '^..5'
A "c" in the second column indicates that a file is a configuration file, which may appropriately be expected to change. If the file was not expected to change, investigate the cause of the change using audit logs or other means. The package can then be reinstalled to restore the file. Run the following command to determine which package owns the file: 
$ rpm -qf FILENAME
The package can be reinstalled from a yum repository using the command: 
$ sudo yum reinstall PACKAGENAME
Alternatively, the package can be reinstalled from trusted media using the command: 
$ sudo rpm -Uvh PACKAGENAME

Rationale:

The hashes of important files like system executables should match the information given by the RPM database. Executables with erroneous hashes could be a sign of nefarious activity on the system.

Severity: 
high
Identifiers and References

References:  1.2.6, 11, 2, 3, 9, 5.10.4.1, APO01.06, BAI03.05, BAI06.01, BAI10.01, BAI10.02, BAI10.03, BAI10.05, DSS06.02, 3.3.8, 3.4.1, CCI-000663, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.312(b), 164.312(c)(1), 164.312(c)(2), 164.312(e)(2)(i), 4.3.4.3.2, 4.3.4.3.3, 4.3.4.4.4, SR 3.1, SR 3.3, SR 3.4, SR 3.8, SR 7.6, A.11.2.4, A.12.1.2, A.12.2.1, A.12.5.1, A.12.6.2, A.14.1.2, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.2, A.14.2.3, A.14.2.4, CM-6(d), CM-6(3), SI-7(1), PR.DS-6, PR.DS-8, PR.IP-1, Req-11.5, SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227

Remediation Shell script:   (show)


# Find which files have incorrect hash (not in /etc, because there are all system related config. files) and then get files names
files_with_incorrect_hash="$(rpm -Va | grep -E '^..5.* /(bin|sbin|lib|lib64|usr)/' | awk '{print $NF}' )"
# From files names get package names and change newline to space, because rpm writes each package to new line
packages_to_reinstall="$(rpm -qf $files_with_incorrect_hash | tr '\n' ' ')"

yum reinstall -y $packages_to_reinstall
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:high
Disruption:medium
- name: 'Set fact: Package manager reinstall command (dnf)'
  set_fact:
    package_manager_reinstall_cmd: dnf reinstall -y
  when: ansible_distribution == "Fedora"
  tags:
    - rpm_verify_hashes
    - high_severity
    - unknown_strategy
    - high_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - PCI-DSS-Req-11.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.3.8
    - NIST-800-171-3.4.1
    - NIST-800-53-CM-6(d)
    - NIST-800-53-CM-6(3)
    - NIST-800-53-SI-7(1)
    - CJIS-5.10.4.1

- name: 'Set fact: Package manager reinstall command (yum)'
  set_fact:
    package_manager_reinstall_cmd: yum reinstall -y
  when: (ansible_distribution == "RedHat" or ansible_distribution == "OracleLinux")
  tags:
    - rpm_verify_hashes
    - high_severity
    - unknown_strategy
    - high_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - PCI-DSS-Req-11.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.3.8
    - NIST-800-171-3.4.1
    - NIST-800-53-CM-6(d)
    - NIST-800-53-CM-6(3)
    - NIST-800-53-SI-7(1)
    - CJIS-5.10.4.1

- name: Read files with incorrect hash
  shell: 'set -o pipefail

    rpm -Va | grep -E ''^..5.* /(bin|sbin|lib|lib64|usr)/'' | awk ''{print $NF}''

    '
  args:
    warn: false
    executable: /bin/bash
  register: files_with_incorrect_hash
  changed_when: false
  when: (package_manager_reinstall_cmd is defined)
  check_mode: false
  tags:
    - rpm_verify_hashes
    - high_severity
    - unknown_strategy
    - high_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - PCI-DSS-Req-11.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.3.8
    - NIST-800-171-3.4.1
    - NIST-800-53-CM-6(d)
    - NIST-800-53-CM-6(3)
    - NIST-800-53-SI-7(1)
    - CJIS-5.10.4.1

- name: Reinstall packages of files with incorrect hash
  shell: '{{ package_manager_reinstall_cmd }} $(rpm -qf ''{{ item }}'')'
  args:
    warn: false
  with_items: '{{ files_with_incorrect_hash.stdout_lines }}'
  when: (package_manager_reinstall_cmd is defined and (files_with_incorrect_hash.stdout_lines
    | length > 0))
  tags:
    - rpm_verify_hashes
    - high_severity
    - unknown_strategy
    - high_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - PCI-DSS-Req-11.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.3.8
    - NIST-800-171-3.4.1
    - NIST-800-53-CM-6(d)
    - NIST-800-53-CM-6(3)
    - NIST-800-53-SI-7(1)
    - CJIS-5.10.4.1
Group   Updating Software   Group contains 3 rules

[ref]   The yum command line tool is used to install and update software packages. The system also provides a graphical software update tool in the System menu, in the Administration submenu, called Software Update.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 systems contain an installed software catalog called the RPM database, which records metadata of installed packages. Consistently using yum or the graphical Software Update for all software installation allows for insight into the current inventory of installed software on the system.

Rule   Ensure Software Patches Installed   [ref]

If the system is joined to the Red Hat Network, a Red Hat Satellite Server, or a yum server, run the following command to install updates: 

$ sudo yum update
If the system is not configured to use one of these sources, updates (in the form of RPM packages) can be manually downloaded from the Red Hat Network and installed using rpm.

NOTE: U.S. Defense systems are required to be patched within 30 days or sooner as local policy dictates.

Rationale:

Installing software updates is a fundamental mitigation against the exploitation of publicly-known vulnerabilities. If the most recent security patches and updates are not installed, unauthorized users may take advantage of weaknesses in the unpatched software. The lack of prompt attention to patching could result in a system compromise.

Severity: 
high
Identifiers and References

References:  1.8, 18, 20, 4, 5.10.4.1, APO12.01, APO12.02, APO12.03, APO12.04, BAI03.10, DSS05.01, DSS05.02, CCI-000366, 4.2.3, 4.2.3.12, 4.2.3.7, 4.2.3.9, A.12.6.1, A.14.2.3, A.16.1.3, A.18.2.2, A.18.2.3, SI-2, SI-2(c), MA-1(b), ID.RA-1, PR.IP-12, FMT_MOF_EXT.1, Req-6.2, SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227, SRG-OS-000480-VMM-002000

Remediation Shell script:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:high
Reboot:true
Strategy:patch
yum -y update
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:high
Reboot:true
Strategy:patch
- name: Security patches are up to date
  package:
    name: '*'
    state: latest
  tags:
    - security_patches_up_to_date
    - high_severity
    - skip_ansible_lint
    - patch_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - high_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-6.2
    - NIST-800-53-SI-2
    - NIST-800-53-SI-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-MA-1(b)
    - CJIS-5.10.4.1

Rule   Ensure Red Hat GPG Key Installed   [ref]

To ensure the system can cryptographically verify base software packages come from Red Hat (and to connect to the Red Hat Network to receive them), the Red Hat GPG key must properly be installed. To install the Red Hat GPG key, run: 

$ sudo subscription-manager register
If the system is not connected to the Internet or an RHN Satellite, then install the Red Hat GPG key from trusted media such as the Red Hat installation CD-ROM or DVD. Assuming the disc is mounted in /media/cdrom, use the following command as the root user to import it into the keyring: 
$ sudo rpm --import /media/cdrom/RPM-GPG-KEY

Rationale:

Changes to software components can have significant effects on the overall security of the operating system. This requirement ensures the software has not been tampered with and that it has been provided by a trusted vendor. The Red Hat GPG key is necessary to cryptographically verify packages are from Red Hat.

Severity: 
high
Identifiers and References

References:  1.2.3, 11, 2, 3, 9, 5.10.4.1, APO01.06, BAI03.05, BAI06.01, BAI10.01, BAI10.02, BAI10.03, BAI10.05, DSS06.02, 3.4.8, CCI-001749, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.312(b), 164.312(c)(1), 164.312(c)(2), 164.312(e)(2)(i), 4.3.4.3.2, 4.3.4.3.3, 4.3.4.4.4, SR 3.1, SR 3.3, SR 3.4, SR 3.8, SR 7.6, A.11.2.4, A.12.1.2, A.12.2.1, A.12.5.1, A.12.6.2, A.14.1.2, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.2, A.14.2.3, A.14.2.4, CM-5(3), CM-11(a), SI-7, MA-1(b), PR.DS-6, PR.DS-8, PR.IP-1, FAU_GEN.1.1.c, Req-6.2, SRG-OS-000366-GPOS-00153, SRG-OS-000366-VMM-001430, SRG-OS-000370-VMM-001460, SRG-OS-000404-VMM-001650

Remediation Shell script:   (show)

# The two fingerprints below are retrieved from https://access.redhat.com/security/team/key
readonly REDHAT_RELEASE_2_FINGERPRINT="567E347AD0044ADE55BA8A5F199E2F91FD431D51"
readonly REDHAT_AUXILIARY_FINGERPRINT="43A6E49C4A38F4BE9ABF2A5345689C882FA658E0"
# Location of the key we would like to import (once it's integrity verified)
readonly REDHAT_RELEASE_KEY="/etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-redhat-release"

RPM_GPG_DIR_PERMS=$(stat -c %a "$(dirname "$REDHAT_RELEASE_KEY")")

# Verify /etc/pki/rpm-gpg directory permissions are safe
if [ "${RPM_GPG_DIR_PERMS}" -le "755" ]
then
  # If they are safe, try to obtain fingerprints from the key file
  # (to ensure there won't be e.g. CRC error).
  # Backup IFS value
  IFS_BKP=$IFS

  IFS=$'\n' GPG_OUT=($(gpg --show-key --with-colons "$REDHAT_RELEASE_KEY" | grep "^fpr" | cut -d ":" -f 10))

  GPG_RESULT=$?
  # Reset IFS back to default
  IFS=$IFS_BKP
  # No CRC error, safe to proceed
  if [ "${GPG_RESULT}" -eq "0" ]
  then
    echo "${GPG_OUT[*]}" | grep -vE "${REDHAT_RELEASE_2_FINGERPRINT}|${REDHAT_AUXILIARY_FINGERPRINT}" || {
      # If $REDHAT_RELEASE_KEY file doesn't contain any keys with unknown fingerprint, import it
      rpm --import "${REDHAT_RELEASE_KEY}"
    }
  fi
fi
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:medium
Disruption:medium
Strategy:restrict
- name: Read permission of GPG key directory
  stat:
    path: /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/
  register: gpg_key_directory_permission
  check_mode: false
  tags:
    - ensure_redhat_gpgkey_installed
    - high_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - medium_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - PCI-DSS-Req-6.2
    - NIST-800-171-3.4.8
    - NIST-800-53-CM-5(3)
    - NIST-800-53-CM-11(a)
    - NIST-800-53-SI-7
    - NIST-800-53-MA-1(b)
    - CJIS-5.10.4.1

- name: Read signatures in GPG key
  shell: 'set -o pipefail

    gpg --show-key --with-colons "/etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-redhat-release" | grep
    "^fpr" | cut -d ":" -f 10

    '
  args:
    warn: false
    executable: /bin/bash
  changed_when: false
  register: gpg_fingerprints
  check_mode: false
  tags:
    - ensure_redhat_gpgkey_installed
    - high_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - medium_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - PCI-DSS-Req-6.2
    - NIST-800-171-3.4.8
    - NIST-800-53-CM-5(3)
    - NIST-800-53-CM-11(a)
    - NIST-800-53-SI-7
    - NIST-800-53-MA-1(b)
    - CJIS-5.10.4.1

- name: Set Fact - Valid fingerprints
  set_fact:
    gpg_valid_fingerprints: ("567E347AD0044ADE55BA8A5F199E2F91FD431D51" "43A6E49C4A38F4BE9ABF2A5345689C882FA658E0")
  tags:
    - ensure_redhat_gpgkey_installed
    - high_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - medium_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - PCI-DSS-Req-6.2
    - NIST-800-171-3.4.8
    - NIST-800-53-CM-5(3)
    - NIST-800-53-CM-11(a)
    - NIST-800-53-SI-7
    - NIST-800-53-MA-1(b)
    - CJIS-5.10.4.1

- name: Import RedHat GPG key
  rpm_key:
    state: present
    key: /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-redhat-release
  when:
    - gpg_key_directory_permission.stat.mode <= '0755'
    - ( gpg_fingerprints.stdout_lines | difference(gpg_valid_fingerprints)) | length
      == 0
    - gpg_fingerprints.stdout_lines | length > 0
    - ansible_distribution == "RedHat"
  tags:
    - ensure_redhat_gpgkey_installed
    - high_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - medium_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - PCI-DSS-Req-6.2
    - NIST-800-171-3.4.8
    - NIST-800-53-CM-5(3)
    - NIST-800-53-CM-11(a)
    - NIST-800-53-SI-7
    - NIST-800-53-MA-1(b)
    - CJIS-5.10.4.1

Rule   Ensure gpgcheck Enabled In Main yum Configuration   [ref]

The gpgcheck option controls whether RPM packages' signatures are always checked prior to installation. To configure yum to check package signatures before installing them, ensure the following line appears in /etc/yum.conf in the [main] section: 

gpgcheck=1

Rationale:

Changes to any software components can have significant effects on the overall security of the operating system. This requirement ensures the software has not been tampered with and that it has been provided by a trusted vendor.
Accordingly, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components must be signed with a certificate recognized and approved by the organization.
Verifying the authenticity of the software prior to installation validates the integrity of the patch or upgrade received from a vendor. This ensures the software has not been tampered with and that it has been provided by a trusted vendor. Self-signed certificates are disallowed by this requirement. Certificates used to verify the software must be from an approved Certificate Authority (CA).

Severity: 
high
Identifiers and References

References:  1.2.2, 11, 2, 3, 9, 5.10.4.1, APO01.06, BAI03.05, BAI06.01, BAI10.01, BAI10.02, BAI10.03, BAI10.05, DSS06.02, 3.4.8, CCI-001749, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.312(b), 164.312(c)(1), 164.312(c)(2), 164.312(e)(2)(i), 4.3.4.3.2, 4.3.4.3.3, 4.3.4.4.4, SR 3.1, SR 3.3, SR 3.4, SR 3.8, SR 7.6, A.11.2.4, A.12.1.2, A.12.2.1, A.12.5.1, A.12.6.2, A.14.1.2, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.2, A.14.2.3, A.14.2.4, CM-5(3), CM-11, SI-7, MA-1(b), PR.DS-6, PR.DS-8, PR.IP-1, FAU_GEN.1.1.c, Req-6.2, SRG-OS-000366-GPOS-00153, SRG-OS-000366-VMM-001430, SRG-OS-000370-VMM-001460, SRG-OS-000404-VMM-001650

Remediation Shell script:   (show)

# Function to replace configuration setting in config file or add the configuration setting if
# it does not exist.
#
# Expects arguments:
#
# config_file:		Configuration file that will be modified
# key:			Configuration option to change
# value:		Value of the configuration option to change
# cce:			The CCE identifier or '@CCENUM@' if no CCE identifier exists
# format:		The printf-like format string that will be given stripped key and value as arguments,
#			so e.g. '%s=%s' will result in key=value subsitution (i.e. without spaces around =)
#
# Optional arugments:
#
# format:		Optional argument to specify the format of how key/value should be
# 			modified/appended in the configuration file. The default is key = value.
#
# Example Call(s):
#
#     With default format of 'key = value':
#     replace_or_append '/etc/sysctl.conf' '^kernel.randomize_va_space' '2' '@CCENUM@'
#
#     With custom key/value format:
#     replace_or_append '/etc/sysconfig/selinux' '^SELINUX=' 'disabled' '@CCENUM@' '%s=%s'
#
#     With a variable:
#     replace_or_append '/etc/sysconfig/selinux' '^SELINUX=' $var_selinux_state '@CCENUM@' '%s=%s'
#
function replace_or_append {
  local default_format='%s = %s' case_insensitive_mode=yes sed_case_insensitive_option='' grep_case_insensitive_option=''
  local config_file=$1
  local key=$2
  local value=$3
  local cce=$4
  local format=$5

  if [ "$case_insensitive_mode" = yes ]; then
    sed_case_insensitive_option="i"
    grep_case_insensitive_option="-i"
  fi
  [ -n "$format" ] || format="$default_format"
  # Check sanity of the input
  [ $# -ge "3" ] || { echo "Usage: replace_or_append <config_file_location> <key_to_search> <new_value> [<CCE number or literal '@CCENUM@' if unknown>] [printf-like format, default is '$default_format']" >&2; exit 1; }

  # Test if the config_file is a symbolic link. If so, use --follow-symlinks with sed.
  # Otherwise, regular sed command will do.
  sed_command=('sed' '-i')
  if test -L "$config_file"; then
    sed_command+=('--follow-symlinks')
  fi

  # Test that the cce arg is not empty or does not equal @CCENUM@.
  # If @CCENUM@ exists, it means that there is no CCE assigned.
  if [ -n "$cce" ] && [ "$cce" != '@CCENUM@' ]; then
    cce="CCE-${cce}"
  else
    cce="CCE"
  fi

  # Strip any search characters in the key arg so that the key can be replaced without
  # adding any search characters to the config file.
  stripped_key=$(sed 's/[\^=\$,;+]*//g' <<< "$key")

  # shellcheck disable=SC2059
  printf -v formatted_output "$format" "$stripped_key" "$value"

  # If the key exists, change it. Otherwise, add it to the config_file.
  # We search for the key string followed by a word boundary (matched by \>),
  # so if we search for 'setting', 'setting2' won't match.
  if LC_ALL=C grep -q -m 1 $grep_case_insensitive_option -e "${key}\\>" "$config_file"; then
    "${sed_command[@]}" "s/${key}\\>.*/$formatted_output/g$sed_case_insensitive_option" "$config_file"
  else
    # \n is precaution for case where file ends without trailing newline
    printf '\n# Per %s: Set %s in %s\n' "$cce" "$formatted_output" "$config_file" >> "$config_file"
    printf '%s\n' "$formatted_output" >> "$config_file"
  fi
}

replace_or_append "/etc/yum.conf" '^gpgcheck' '1' ''
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:medium
- name: Check existence of yum on Fedora
  stat:
    path: /etc/yum.conf
  register: yum_config_file
  check_mode: false
  when: ansible_distribution == "Fedora"
  tags:
    - ensure_gpgcheck_globally_activated
    - high_severity
    - unknown_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - PCI-DSS-Req-6.2
    - NIST-800-171-3.4.8
    - NIST-800-53-CM-5(3)
    - NIST-800-53-CM-11
    - NIST-800-53-SI-7
    - NIST-800-53-MA-1(b)
    - CJIS-5.10.4.1

- name: Ensure GPG check is globally activated (yum)
  ini_file:
    dest: /etc/yum.conf
    section: main
    option: gpgcheck
    value: 1
    create: false
  when: (ansible_distribution == "RedHat" or ansible_distribution == "CentOS" or yum_config_file.stat.exists)
  tags:
    - ensure_gpgcheck_globally_activated
    - high_severity
    - unknown_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - PCI-DSS-Req-6.2
    - NIST-800-171-3.4.8
    - NIST-800-53-CM-5(3)
    - NIST-800-53-CM-11
    - NIST-800-53-SI-7
    - NIST-800-53-MA-1(b)
    - CJIS-5.10.4.1

- name: Ensure GPG check is globally activated (dnf)
  ini_file:
    dest: /etc/dnf/dnf.conf
    section: main
    option: gpgcheck
    value: 1
    create: false
  when: ansible_distribution == "Fedora"
  tags:
    - ensure_gpgcheck_globally_activated
    - high_severity
    - unknown_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - PCI-DSS-Req-6.2
    - NIST-800-171-3.4.8
    - NIST-800-53-CM-5(3)
    - NIST-800-53-CM-11
    - NIST-800-53-SI-7
    - NIST-800-53-MA-1(b)
    - CJIS-5.10.4.1
Group   Configure Syslog   Group contains 2 rules

[ref]   The syslog service has been the default Unix logging mechanism for many years. It has a number of downsides, including inconsistent log format, lack of authentication for received messages, and lack of authentication, encryption, or reliable transport for messages sent over a network. However, due to its long history, syslog is a de facto standard which is supported by almost all Unix applications.

In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, rsyslog has replaced ksyslogd as the syslog daemon of choice, and it includes some additional security features such as reliable, connection-oriented (i.e. TCP) transmission of logs, the option to log to database formats, and the encryption of log data en route to a central logging server. This section discusses how to configure rsyslog for best effect, and how to use tools provided with the system to maintain and monitor logs.

Rule   Enable rsyslog Service   [ref]

The rsyslog service provides syslog-style logging by default on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8. The rsyslog service can be enabled with the following command: 

$ sudo systemctl enable rsyslog.service

Rationale:

The rsyslog service must be running in order to provide logging services, which are essential to system administration.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  NT28(R5), NT28(R46), 4.2.1.1, 1, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI04.04, DSS01.03, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, CCI-001311, CCI-001312, CCI-001557, CCI-001851, 164.312(a)(2)(ii), 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.2, A.12.1.3, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.17.2.1, AU-4(1), AU-12, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.DS-4, PR.PT-1

Rule   Ensure rsyslog is Installed   [ref]

Rsyslog is installed by default. The rsyslog package can be installed with the following command: 

 $ sudo yum install rsyslog

Rationale:

The rsyslog package provides the rsyslog daemon, which provides system logging services.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  NT28(R5), NT28(R46), 4.2.3, 1, 14, 15, 16, 3, 5, 6, APO11.04, BAI03.05, DSS05.04, DSS05.07, MEA02.01, CCI-001311, CCI-001312, 164.312(a)(2)(ii), 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, AU-9(2), PR.PT-1

Group   Account and Access Control   Group contains 4 groups and 2 rules

[ref]   In traditional Unix security, if an attacker gains shell access to a certain login account, they can perform any action or access any file to which that account has access. Therefore, making it more difficult for unauthorized people to gain shell access to accounts, particularly to privileged accounts, is a necessary part of securing a system. This section introduces mechanisms for restricting access to accounts under Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.

Group   Secure Session Configuration Files for Login Accounts   Group contains 1 group and 1 rule

[ref]   When a user logs into a Unix account, the system configures the user's session by reading a number of files. Many of these files are located in the user's home directory, and may have weak permissions as a result of user error or misconfiguration. If an attacker can modify or even read certain types of account configuration information, they can often gain full access to the affected user's account. Therefore, it is important to test and correct configuration file permissions for interactive accounts, particularly those of privileged users such as root or system administrators.

Group   Ensure that No Dangerous Directories Exist in Root's Path   Group contains 1 rule

[ref]   The active path of the root account can be obtained by starting a new root shell and running: 

# echo $PATH
This will produce a colon-separated list of directories in the path.

Certain path elements could be considered dangerous, as they could lead to root executing unknown or untrusted programs, which could contain malicious code. Since root may sometimes work inside untrusted directories, the . character, which represents the current directory, should never be in the root path, nor should any directory which can be written to by an unprivileged or semi-privileged (system) user.

It is a good practice for administrators to always execute privileged commands by typing the full path to the command.

Rule   Ensure that Root's Path Does Not Include World or Group-Writable Directories   [ref]

For each element in root's path, run: 

# ls -ld DIR
and ensure that write permissions are disabled for group and other.

Rationale:

Such entries increase the risk that root could execute code provided by unprivileged users, and potentially malicious code.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  11, 3, 9, BAI10.01, BAI10.02, BAI10.03, BAI10.05, CCI-000366, 4.3.4.3.2, 4.3.4.3.3, SR 7.6, A.12.1.2, A.12.5.1, A.12.6.2, A.14.2.2, A.14.2.3, A.14.2.4, CM-6(b), PR.IP-1

Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:medium
Strategy:restrict
- name: Fail if user is not root
  fail:
    msg: Root account required to read root $PATH
  when: ansible_user != "root"
  tags:
    - accounts_root_path_dirs_no_write
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - NIST-800-53-CM-6(b)

- name: Get root paths which are not symbolic links
  shell: 'set -o pipefail

    tr ":" "\n" <<< "$PATH" | xargs -I% find % -maxdepth 0 -type d

    '
  args:
    warn: false
    executable: /bin/bash
  changed_when: false
  failed_when: false
  register: root_paths
  when: ansible_user == "root"
  check_mode: false
  tags:
    - accounts_root_path_dirs_no_write
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - NIST-800-53-CM-6(b)

- name: Disable writability to root directories
  file:
    path: '{{ item }}'
    mode: g-w,o-w
  with_items: '{{ root_paths.stdout_lines }}'
  when: root_paths.stdout_lines is defined
  tags:
    - accounts_root_path_dirs_no_write
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - NIST-800-53-CM-6(b)
Group   Protect Accounts by Restricting Password-Based Login   Group contains 1 group and 1 rule

[ref]   Conventionally, Unix shell accounts are accessed by providing a username and password to a login program, which tests these values for correctness using the /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow files. Password-based login is vulnerable to guessing of weak passwords, and to sniffing and man-in-the-middle attacks against passwords entered over a network or at an insecure console. Therefore, mechanisms for accessing accounts by entering usernames and passwords should be restricted to those which are operationally necessary.

Group   Verify Proper Storage and Existence of Password Hashes   Group contains 1 rule

[ref]   By default, password hashes for local accounts are stored in the second field (colon-separated) in /etc/shadow. This file should be readable only by processes running with root credentials, preventing users from casually accessing others' password hashes and attempting to crack them. However, it remains possible to misconfigure the system and store password hashes in world-readable files such as /etc/passwd, or to even store passwords themselves in plaintext on the system. Using system-provided tools for password change/creation should allow administrators to avoid such misconfiguration.

Rule   Prevent Login to Accounts With Empty Password   [ref]

If an account is configured for password authentication but does not have an assigned password, it may be possible to log into the account without authentication. Remove any instances of the nullok option in /etc/pam.d/system-auth to prevent logins with empty passwords.

Rationale:

If an account has an empty password, anyone could log in and run commands with the privileges of that account. Accounts with empty passwords should never be used in operational environments.

Severity: 
high
Identifiers and References

References:  1, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 3, 5, 5.5.2, APO01.06, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, DSS05.10, DSS06.02, DSS06.03, DSS06.10, 3.1.1, 3.1.5, CCI-000366, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(B), 164.308(a)(7)(i), 164.308(a)(7)(ii)(A), 164.310(a)(1), 164.310(a)(2)(i), 164.310(a)(2)(ii), 164.310(a)(2)(iii), 164.310(b), 164.310(c), 164.310(d)(1), 164.310(d)(2)(iii), 4.3.3.2.2, 4.3.3.5.1, 4.3.3.5.2, 4.3.3.6.1, 4.3.3.6.2, 4.3.3.6.3, 4.3.3.6.4, 4.3.3.6.5, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.3.6.7, 4.3.3.6.8, 4.3.3.6.9, 4.3.3.7.2, 4.3.3.7.3, 4.3.3.7.4, SR 1.1, SR 1.10, SR 1.2, SR 1.3, SR 1.4, SR 1.5, SR 1.7, SR 1.8, SR 1.9, SR 2.1, SR 5.2, A.10.1.1, A.11.1.4, A.11.1.5, A.11.2.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.1.3, A.13.2.1, A.13.2.3, A.13.2.4, A.14.1.2, A.14.1.3, A.18.1.4, A.6.1.2, A.7.1.1, A.7.1.2, A.7.3.1, A.8.2.2, A.8.2.3, A.9.1.1, A.9.1.2, A.9.2.1, A.9.2.2, A.9.2.3, A.9.2.4, A.9.2.6, A.9.3.1, A.9.4.1, A.9.4.2, A.9.4.3, A.9.4.4, A.9.4.5, AC-6, IA-5(b), IA-5(c), IA-5(1)(a), PR.AC-1, PR.AC-4, PR.AC-6, PR.AC-7, PR.DS-5, FIA_AFL.1, Req-8.2.3, SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227

Remediation Shell script:   (show)

sed --follow-symlinks -i 's/\<nullok\>//g' /etc/pam.d/system-auth
sed --follow-symlinks -i 's/\<nullok\>//g' /etc/pam.d/password-auth
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:medium
Strategy:configure
- name: Prevent Log In to Accounts With Empty Password - system-auth
  replace:
    dest: /etc/pam.d/system-auth
    follow: true
    regexp: nullok
  tags:
    - no_empty_passwords
    - high_severity
    - configure_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - PCI-DSS-Req-8.2.3
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.1
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.5
    - NIST-800-53-AC-6
    - NIST-800-53-IA-5(b)
    - NIST-800-53-IA-5(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IA-5(1)(a)
    - CJIS-5.5.2

- name: Prevent Log In to Accounts With Empty Password - password-auth
  replace:
    dest: /etc/pam.d/password-auth
    follow: true
    regexp: nullok
  tags:
    - no_empty_passwords
    - high_severity
    - configure_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - medium_disruption
    - no_reboot_needed
    - PCI-DSS-Req-8.2.3
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.1
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.5
    - NIST-800-53-AC-6
    - NIST-800-53-IA-5(b)
    - NIST-800-53-IA-5(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IA-5(1)(a)
    - CJIS-5.5.2
Group   System Accounting with auditd   Group contains 7 groups and 27 rules

[ref]   The audit service provides substantial capabilities for recording system activities. By default, the service audits about SELinux AVC denials and certain types of security-relevant events such as system logins, account modifications, and authentication events performed by programs such as sudo. Under its default configuration, auditd has modest disk space requirements, and should not noticeably impact system performance.

NOTE: The Linux Audit daemon auditd can be configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules files (*.rules) located in /etc/audit/rules.d location and compile them to create the resulting form of the /etc/audit/audit.rules configuration file during the daemon startup (default configuration). Alternatively, the auditd daemon can use the auditctl utility to read audit rules from the /etc/audit/audit.rules configuration file during daemon startup, and load them into the kernel. The expected behavior is configured via the appropriate ExecStartPost directive setting in the /usr/lib/systemd/system/auditd.service configuration file. To instruct the auditd daemon to use the augenrules program to read audit rules (default configuration), use the following setting: 

ExecStartPost=-/sbin/augenrules --load
in the /usr/lib/systemd/system/auditd.service configuration file. In order to instruct the auditd daemon to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules, use the following setting: 
ExecStartPost=-/sbin/auditctl -R /etc/audit/audit.rules
in the /usr/lib/systemd/system/auditd.service configuration file. Refer to [Service] section of the /usr/lib/systemd/system/auditd.service configuration file for further details.

Government networks often have substantial auditing requirements and auditd can be configured to meet these requirements. Examining some example audit records demonstrates how the Linux audit system satisfies common requirements. The following example from Fedora Documentation available at https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/7/html/SELinux_Users_and_Administrators_Guide/sect-Security-Enhanced_Linux-Troubleshooting-Fixing_Problems.html#sect-Security-Enhanced_Linux-Fixing_Problems-Raw_Audit_Messages shows the substantial amount of information captured in a two typical "raw" audit messages, followed by a breakdown of the most important fields. In this example the message is SELinux-related and reports an AVC denial (and the associated system call) that occurred when the Apache HTTP Server attempted to access the /var/www/html/file1 file (labeled with the samba_share_t type): 
type=AVC msg=audit(1226874073.147:96): avc:  denied  { getattr } for pid=2465 comm="httpd"
path="/var/www/html/file1" dev=dm-0 ino=284133 scontext=unconfined_u:system_r:httpd_t:s0
tcontext=unconfined_u:object_r:samba_share_t:s0 tclass=file

type=SYSCALL msg=audit(1226874073.147:96): arch=40000003 syscall=196 success=no exit=-13
a0=b98df198 a1=bfec85dc a2=54dff4 a3=2008171 items=0 ppid=2463 pid=2465 auid=502 uid=48
gid=48 euid=48 suid=48 fsuid=48 egid=48 sgid=48 fsgid=48 tty=(none) ses=6 comm="httpd"
exe="/usr/sbin/httpd" subj=unconfined_u:system_r:httpd_t:s0 key=(null)
  • msg=audit(1226874073.147:96)
    • The number in parentheses is the unformatted time stamp (Epoch time) for the event, which can be converted to standard time by using the date command.
  • { getattr }
    • The item in braces indicates the permission that was denied. getattr indicates the source process was trying to read the target file's status information. This occurs before reading files. This action is denied due to the file being accessed having the wrong label. Commonly seen permissions include getattr, read, and write.
  • comm="httpd"
    • The executable that launched the process. The full path of the executable is found in the exe= section of the system call (SYSCALL) message, which in this case, is exe="/usr/sbin/httpd".
  • path="/var/www/html/file1"
    • The path to the object (target) the process attempted to access.
  • scontext="unconfined_u:system_r:httpd_t:s0"
    • The SELinux context of the process that attempted the denied action. In this case, it is the SELinux context of the Apache HTTP Server, which is running in the httpd_t domain.
  • tcontext="unconfined_u:object_r:samba_share_t:s0"
    • The SELinux context of the object (target) the process attempted to access. In this case, it is the SELinux context of file1. Note: the samba_share_t type is not accessible to processes running in the httpd_t domain.
  • From the system call (SYSCALL) message, two items are of interest:
    • success=no: indicates whether the denial (AVC) was enforced or not. success=no indicates the system call was not successful (SELinux denied access). success=yes indicates the system call was successful - this can be seen for permissive domains or unconfined domains, such as initrc_t and kernel_t.
    • exe="/usr/sbin/httpd": the full path to the executable that launched the process, which in this case, is exe="/usr/sbin/httpd".

Group   Configure auditd Rules for Comprehensive Auditing   Group contains 6 groups and 27 rules

[ref]   The auditd program can perform comprehensive monitoring of system activity. This section describes recommended configuration settings for comprehensive auditing, but a full description of the auditing system's capabilities is beyond the scope of this guide. The mailing list linux-audit@redhat.com exists to facilitate community discussion of the auditing system.

The audit subsystem supports extensive collection of events, including:

  • Tracing of arbitrary system calls (identified by name or number) on entry or exit.
  • Filtering by PID, UID, call success, system call argument (with some limitations), etc.
  • Monitoring of specific files for modifications to the file's contents or metadata.

Auditing rules at startup are controlled by the file /etc/audit/audit.rules. Add rules to it to meet the auditing requirements for your organization. Each line in /etc/audit/audit.rules represents a series of arguments that can be passed to auditctl and can be individually tested during runtime. See documentation in /usr/share/doc/audit-VERSION and in the related man pages for more details.

If copying any example audit rulesets from /usr/share/doc/audit-VERSION, be sure to comment out the lines containing arch= which are not appropriate for your system's architecture. Then review and understand the following rules, ensuring rules are activated as needed for the appropriate architecture.

After reviewing all the rules, reading the following sections, and editing as needed, the new rules can be activated as follows: 
$ sudo service auditd restart

Group   Record Information on Kernel Modules Loading and Unloading   Group contains 1 rule

[ref]   To capture kernel module loading and unloading events, use following lines, setting ARCH to either b32 for 32-bit system, or having two lines for both b32 and b64 in case your system is 64-bit: 

-w /usr/sbin/insmod -p x -k modules
-w /usr/sbin/rmmod -p x -k modules
-w /usr/sbin/modprobe -p x -k modules
-a always,exit -F arch=ARCH -S init_module,delete_module -F key=modules
Place to add the lines depends on a way auditd daemon is configured. If it is configured to use the augenrules program (the default), add the lines to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d. If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility, add the lines to file /etc/audit/audit.rules.

Rule   Ensure auditd Collects Information on Kernel Module Loading and Unloading   [ref]

To capture kernel module loading and unloading events, use following lines, setting ARCH to either b32 for 32-bit system, or having two lines for both b32 and b64 in case your system is 64-bit: 

-w /usr/sbin/insmod -p x -k modules
-w /usr/sbin/rmmod -p x -k modules
-w /usr/sbin/modprobe -p x -k modules

-a always,exit -F arch=ARCH -S init_module,finit_module,create_module,delete_module -F key=modules
The place to add the lines depends on a way auditd daemon is configured. If it is configured to use the augenrules program (the default), add the lines to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d. If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility, add the lines to file /etc/audit/audit.rules.

Warning:  This rule checks for multiple syscalls related to kernel module loading and unloading; it was written with DISA STIG in mind. Other policies should use a separate rule for each syscall that needs to be checked. For example:
  • audit_rules_kernel_module_loading_insmod
  • audit_rules_kernel_module_loading_rmmod
  • audit_rules_kernel_module_loading_modprobe
Rationale:

The addition/removal of kernel modules can be used to alter the behavior of the kernel and potentially introduce malicious code into kernel space. It is important to have an audit trail of modules that have been introduced into the kernel.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.17, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-000172, 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, Req-10.2.7

Remediation Shell script:   (show)



# First perform the remediation of the syscall rule
# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
# Note: 32-bit and 64-bit kernel syscall numbers not always line up =>
#       it's required on a 64-bit system to check also for the presence
#       of 32-bit's equivalent of the corresponding rule.
#       (See `man 7 audit.rules` for details )
[ "$(getconf LONG_BIT)" = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do
        GROUP="modules"

        PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S init_module -S delete_module -S finit_module -S create_module \(-F key=\|-k \).*"
        FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S init_module -S delete_module -S finit_module -S create_module -k modules"

        # Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}

        fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
        fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done

# Then perform the remediations for the watch rules
# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix audit file system object watch rule for given path:
# * if rule exists, also verifies the -w bits match the requirements
# * if rule doesn't exist yet, appends expected rule form to $files_to_inspect
#   audit rules file, depending on the tool which was used to load audit rules
#
# Expects four arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules'
# * path                        	value of -w audit rule's argument
# * required access bits        	value of -p audit rule's argument
# * key                         	value of -k audit rule's argument
#
# Example call:
#
#       fix_audit_watch_rule "auditctl" "/etc/localtime" "wa" "audit_time_rules"
#
function fix_audit_watch_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local path="$2"
local required_access_bits="$3"
local key="$4"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "4" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_watch_rule 'tool' 'path' 'bits' 'key'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
#
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Tool used to load audit rules	| Rule already defined	|  Audit rules file to inspect	  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#	auditctl		|     Doesn't matter	|  /etc/audit/audit.rules	  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 	augenrules		|          Yes		|  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules	  |
# 	augenrules		|          No		|  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
declare -a files_to_inspect

# Check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	exit 1
# If the audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# into the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules')
# If the audit is 'augenrules', then check if rule is already defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to list of files for inspection.
# If rule isn't defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to list of files for inspection.
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Backup IFS value
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Case when particular audit rule is already defined in some of /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules file
	# Get pair -- filepath : matching_row into @matches array
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(grep -P "[\s]*-w[\s]+$path" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# For each of the matched entries
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		# Extract filepath from the match
		rulesd_audit_file=$(echo $match | cut -f1 -d ':')
		# Append that path into list of files for inspection
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "$rulesd_audit_file")
	done
	# Case when particular audit rule isn't defined yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		# Append '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' into list of files for inspection
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		# If the $key.rules file doesn't exist yet, create it with correct permissions
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

# Finally perform the inspection and possible subsequent audit rule
# correction for each of the files previously identified for inspection
for audit_rules_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	# Check if audit watch file system object rule for given path already present
	if grep -q -P -- "[\s]*-w[\s]+$path" "$audit_rules_file"
	then
		# Rule is found => verify yet if existing rule definition contains
		# all of the required access type bits

		# Escape slashes in path for use in sed pattern below
		local esc_path=${path//$'/'/$'\/'}
		# Define BRE whitespace class shortcut
		local sp="[[:space:]]"
		# Extract current permission access types (e.g. -p [r|w|x|a] values) from audit rule
		current_access_bits=$(sed -ne "s/$sp*-w$sp\+$esc_path$sp\+-p$sp\+\([rxwa]\{1,4\}\).*/\1/p" "$audit_rules_file")
		# Split required access bits string into characters array
		# (to check bit's presence for one bit at a time)
		for access_bit in $(echo "$required_access_bits" | grep -o .)
		do
			# For each from the required access bits (e.g. 'w', 'a') check
			# if they are already present in current access bits for rule.
			# If not, append that bit at the end
			if ! grep -q "$access_bit" <<< "$current_access_bits"
			then
				# Concatenate the existing mask with the missing bit
				current_access_bits="$current_access_bits$access_bit"
			fi
		done
		# Propagate the updated rule's access bits (original + the required
		# ones) back into the /etc/audit/audit.rules file for that rule
		sed -i "s/\($sp*-w$sp\+$esc_path$sp\+-p$sp\+\)\([rxwa]\{1,4\}\)\(.*\)/\1$current_access_bits\3/" "$audit_rules_file"
	else
		# Rule isn't present yet. Append it at the end of $audit_rules_file file
		# with proper key

		echo "-w $path -p $required_access_bits -k $key" >> "$audit_rules_file"
	fi
done
}

fix_audit_watch_rule "auditctl" "/usr/sbin/insmod" "x" "modules"
fix_audit_watch_rule "augenrules" "/usr/sbin/insmod" "x" "modules"
# Function to fix audit file system object watch rule for given path:
# * if rule exists, also verifies the -w bits match the requirements
# * if rule doesn't exist yet, appends expected rule form to $files_to_inspect
#   audit rules file, depending on the tool which was used to load audit rules
#
# Expects four arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules'
# * path                        	value of -w audit rule's argument
# * required access bits        	value of -p audit rule's argument
# * key                         	value of -k audit rule's argument
#
# Example call:
#
#       fix_audit_watch_rule "auditctl" "/etc/localtime" "wa" "audit_time_rules"
#
function fix_audit_watch_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local path="$2"
local required_access_bits="$3"
local key="$4"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "4" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_watch_rule 'tool' 'path' 'bits' 'key'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
#
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Tool used to load audit rules	| Rule already defined	|  Audit rules file to inspect	  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#	auditctl		|     Doesn't matter	|  /etc/audit/audit.rules	  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 	augenrules		|          Yes		|  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules	  |
# 	augenrules		|          No		|  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
declare -a files_to_inspect

# Check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	exit 1
# If the audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# into the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules')
# If the audit is 'augenrules', then check if rule is already defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to list of files for inspection.
# If rule isn't defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to list of files for inspection.
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Backup IFS value
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Case when particular audit rule is already defined in some of /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules file
	# Get pair -- filepath : matching_row into @matches array
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(grep -P "[\s]*-w[\s]+$path" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# For each of the matched entries
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		# Extract filepath from the match
		rulesd_audit_file=$(echo $match | cut -f1 -d ':')
		# Append that path into list of files for inspection
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "$rulesd_audit_file")
	done
	# Case when particular audit rule isn't defined yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		# Append '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' into list of files for inspection
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		# If the $key.rules file doesn't exist yet, create it with correct permissions
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

# Finally perform the inspection and possible subsequent audit rule
# correction for each of the files previously identified for inspection
for audit_rules_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	# Check if audit watch file system object rule for given path already present
	if grep -q -P -- "[\s]*-w[\s]+$path" "$audit_rules_file"
	then
		# Rule is found => verify yet if existing rule definition contains
		# all of the required access type bits

		# Escape slashes in path for use in sed pattern below
		local esc_path=${path//$'/'/$'\/'}
		# Define BRE whitespace class shortcut
		local sp="[[:space:]]"
		# Extract current permission access types (e.g. -p [r|w|x|a] values) from audit rule
		current_access_bits=$(sed -ne "s/$sp*-w$sp\+$esc_path$sp\+-p$sp\+\([rxwa]\{1,4\}\).*/\1/p" "$audit_rules_file")
		# Split required access bits string into characters array
		# (to check bit's presence for one bit at a time)
		for access_bit in $(echo "$required_access_bits" | grep -o .)
		do
			# For each from the required access bits (e.g. 'w', 'a') check
			# if they are already present in current access bits for rule.
			# If not, append that bit at the end
			if ! grep -q "$access_bit" <<< "$current_access_bits"
			then
				# Concatenate the existing mask with the missing bit
				current_access_bits="$current_access_bits$access_bit"
			fi
		done
		# Propagate the updated rule's access bits (original + the required
		# ones) back into the /etc/audit/audit.rules file for that rule
		sed -i "s/\($sp*-w$sp\+$esc_path$sp\+-p$sp\+\)\([rxwa]\{1,4\}\)\(.*\)/\1$current_access_bits\3/" "$audit_rules_file"
	else
		# Rule isn't present yet. Append it at the end of $audit_rules_file file
		# with proper key

		echo "-w $path -p $required_access_bits -k $key" >> "$audit_rules_file"
	fi
done
}

fix_audit_watch_rule "auditctl" "/usr/sbin/rmmod" "x" "modules"
fix_audit_watch_rule "augenrules" "/usr/sbin/rmmod" "x" "modules"
# Function to fix audit file system object watch rule for given path:
# * if rule exists, also verifies the -w bits match the requirements
# * if rule doesn't exist yet, appends expected rule form to $files_to_inspect
#   audit rules file, depending on the tool which was used to load audit rules
#
# Expects four arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules'
# * path                        	value of -w audit rule's argument
# * required access bits        	value of -p audit rule's argument
# * key                         	value of -k audit rule's argument
#
# Example call:
#
#       fix_audit_watch_rule "auditctl" "/etc/localtime" "wa" "audit_time_rules"
#
function fix_audit_watch_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local path="$2"
local required_access_bits="$3"
local key="$4"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "4" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_watch_rule 'tool' 'path' 'bits' 'key'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
#
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Tool used to load audit rules	| Rule already defined	|  Audit rules file to inspect	  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#	auditctl		|     Doesn't matter	|  /etc/audit/audit.rules	  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 	augenrules		|          Yes		|  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules	  |
# 	augenrules		|          No		|  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
declare -a files_to_inspect

# Check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	exit 1
# If the audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# into the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules')
# If the audit is 'augenrules', then check if rule is already defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to list of files for inspection.
# If rule isn't defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to list of files for inspection.
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Backup IFS value
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Case when particular audit rule is already defined in some of /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules file
	# Get pair -- filepath : matching_row into @matches array
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(grep -P "[\s]*-w[\s]+$path" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# For each of the matched entries
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		# Extract filepath from the match
		rulesd_audit_file=$(echo $match | cut -f1 -d ':')
		# Append that path into list of files for inspection
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "$rulesd_audit_file")
	done
	# Case when particular audit rule isn't defined yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		# Append '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' into list of files for inspection
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		# If the $key.rules file doesn't exist yet, create it with correct permissions
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

# Finally perform the inspection and possible subsequent audit rule
# correction for each of the files previously identified for inspection
for audit_rules_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	# Check if audit watch file system object rule for given path already present
	if grep -q -P -- "[\s]*-w[\s]+$path" "$audit_rules_file"
	then
		# Rule is found => verify yet if existing rule definition contains
		# all of the required access type bits

		# Escape slashes in path for use in sed pattern below
		local esc_path=${path//$'/'/$'\/'}
		# Define BRE whitespace class shortcut
		local sp="[[:space:]]"
		# Extract current permission access types (e.g. -p [r|w|x|a] values) from audit rule
		current_access_bits=$(sed -ne "s/$sp*-w$sp\+$esc_path$sp\+-p$sp\+\([rxwa]\{1,4\}\).*/\1/p" "$audit_rules_file")
		# Split required access bits string into characters array
		# (to check bit's presence for one bit at a time)
		for access_bit in $(echo "$required_access_bits" | grep -o .)
		do
			# For each from the required access bits (e.g. 'w', 'a') check
			# if they are already present in current access bits for rule.
			# If not, append that bit at the end
			if ! grep -q "$access_bit" <<< "$current_access_bits"
			then
				# Concatenate the existing mask with the missing bit
				current_access_bits="$current_access_bits$access_bit"
			fi
		done
		# Propagate the updated rule's access bits (original + the required
		# ones) back into the /etc/audit/audit.rules file for that rule
		sed -i "s/\($sp*-w$sp\+$esc_path$sp\+-p$sp\+\)\([rxwa]\{1,4\}\)\(.*\)/\1$current_access_bits\3/" "$audit_rules_file"
	else
		# Rule isn't present yet. Append it at the end of $audit_rules_file file
		# with proper key

		echo "-w $path -p $required_access_bits -k $key" >> "$audit_rules_file"
	fi
done
}

fix_audit_watch_rule "auditctl" "/usr/sbin/modprobe" "x" "modules"
fix_audit_watch_rule "augenrules" "/usr/sbin/modprobe" "x" "modules"
Group   Records Events that Modify Date and Time Information   Group contains 5 rules

[ref]   Arbitrary changes to the system time can be used to obfuscate nefarious activities in log files, as well as to confuse network services that are highly dependent upon an accurate system time. All changes to the system time should be audited.

Rule   Record Attempts to Alter Time Through stime   [ref]

If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d for both 32 bit and 64 bit systems: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S stime -F key=audit_time_rules
Since the 64 bit version of the "stime" system call is not defined in the audit lookup table, the corresponding "-F arch=b64" form of this rule is not expected to be defined on 64 bit systems (the aforementioned "-F arch=b32" stime rule form itself is sufficient for both 32 bit and 64 bit systems). If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file for both 32 bit and 64 bit systems: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S stime -F key=audit_time_rules
Since the 64 bit version of the "stime" system call is not defined in the audit lookup table, the corresponding "-F arch=b64" form of this rule is not expected to be defined on 64 bit systems (the aforementioned "-F arch=b32" stime rule form itself is sufficient for both 32 bit and 64 bit systems). The -k option allows for the specification of a key in string form that can be used for better reporting capability through ausearch and aureport. Multiple system calls can be defined on the same line to save space if desired, but is not required. See an example of multiple combined system calls: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S adjtimex,settimeofday -F key=audit_time_rules

Rationale:

Arbitrary changes to the system time can be used to obfuscate nefarious activities in log files, as well as to confuse network services that are highly dependent upon an accurate system time (such as sshd). All changes to the system time should be audited.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-001487, CCI-000169, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, Req-10.4.2.b

Remediation Shell script:   (show)

# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}


# Function to perform remediation for the 'adjtimex', 'settimeofday', and 'stime' audit
# system calls on RHEL, Fedora or OL systems.
# Remediation performed for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'.
#
# Note: 'stime' system call isn't known at 64-bit arch (see "$ ausyscall x86_64 stime" 's output)
# therefore excluded from the list of time group system calls to be audited on this arch
#
# Example Call:
#
#      perform_audit_adjtimex_settimeofday_stime_remediation
#
function perform_audit_adjtimex_settimeofday_stime_remediation {

# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ $(getconf LONG_BIT) = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do

	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=${ARCH} -S .* -k *"
	# Create expected audit group and audit rule form for particular system call & architecture
	if [ ${ARCH} = "b32" ]
	then
		# stime system call is known at 32-bit arch (see e.g "$ ausyscall i386 stime" 's output)
		# so append it to the list of time group system calls to be audited
		GROUP="\(adjtimex\|settimeofday\|stime\)"
		FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=${ARCH} -S adjtimex -S settimeofday -S stime -k audit_time_rules"
	elif [ ${ARCH} = "b64" ]
	then
		# stime system call isn't known at 64-bit arch (see "$ ausyscall x86_64 stime" 's output)
		# therefore don't add it to the list of time group system calls to be audited
		GROUP="\(adjtimex\|settimeofday\)"
		FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=${ARCH} -S adjtimex -S settimeofday -k audit_time_rules"
	fi
	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done

}

perform_audit_adjtimex_settimeofday_stime_remediation

Rule   Record attempts to alter time through settimeofday   [ref]

If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S settimeofday -F key=audit_time_rules
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S settimeofday -F key=audit_time_rules
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S settimeofday -F key=audit_time_rules
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S settimeofday -F key=audit_time_rules
The -k option allows for the specification of a key in string form that can be used for better reporting capability through ausearch and aureport. Multiple system calls can be defined on the same line to save space if desired, but is not required. See an example of multiple combined syscalls: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S adjtimex,settimeofday -F key=audit_time_rules

Rationale:

Arbitrary changes to the system time can be used to obfuscate nefarious activities in log files, as well as to confuse network services that are highly dependent upon an accurate system time (such as sshd). All changes to the system time should be audited.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.4, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-001487, CCI-000169, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, Req-10.4.2.b

Remediation Shell script:   (show)

# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}


# Function to perform remediation for the 'adjtimex', 'settimeofday', and 'stime' audit
# system calls on RHEL, Fedora or OL systems.
# Remediation performed for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'.
#
# Note: 'stime' system call isn't known at 64-bit arch (see "$ ausyscall x86_64 stime" 's output)
# therefore excluded from the list of time group system calls to be audited on this arch
#
# Example Call:
#
#      perform_audit_adjtimex_settimeofday_stime_remediation
#
function perform_audit_adjtimex_settimeofday_stime_remediation {

# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ $(getconf LONG_BIT) = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do

	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=${ARCH} -S .* -k *"
	# Create expected audit group and audit rule form for particular system call & architecture
	if [ ${ARCH} = "b32" ]
	then
		# stime system call is known at 32-bit arch (see e.g "$ ausyscall i386 stime" 's output)
		# so append it to the list of time group system calls to be audited
		GROUP="\(adjtimex\|settimeofday\|stime\)"
		FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=${ARCH} -S adjtimex -S settimeofday -S stime -k audit_time_rules"
	elif [ ${ARCH} = "b64" ]
	then
		# stime system call isn't known at 64-bit arch (see "$ ausyscall x86_64 stime" 's output)
		# therefore don't add it to the list of time group system calls to be audited
		GROUP="\(adjtimex\|settimeofday\)"
		FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=${ARCH} -S adjtimex -S settimeofday -k audit_time_rules"
	fi
	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done

}

perform_audit_adjtimex_settimeofday_stime_remediation

Rule   Record Attempts to Alter the localtime File   [ref]

If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d: 

-w /etc/localtime -p wa -k audit_time_rules
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file: 
-w /etc/localtime -p wa -k audit_time_rules
The -k option allows for the specification of a key in string form that can be used for better reporting capability through ausearch and aureport and should always be used.

Rationale:

Arbitrary changes to the system time can be used to obfuscate nefarious activities in log files, as well as to confuse network services that are highly dependent upon an accurate system time (such as sshd). All changes to the system time should be audited.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.4, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-001487, CCI-000169, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(b), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, Req-10.4.2.b

Remediation Shell script:   (show)



# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix audit file system object watch rule for given path:
# * if rule exists, also verifies the -w bits match the requirements
# * if rule doesn't exist yet, appends expected rule form to $files_to_inspect
#   audit rules file, depending on the tool which was used to load audit rules
#
# Expects four arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules'
# * path                        	value of -w audit rule's argument
# * required access bits        	value of -p audit rule's argument
# * key                         	value of -k audit rule's argument
#
# Example call:
#
#       fix_audit_watch_rule "auditctl" "/etc/localtime" "wa" "audit_time_rules"
#
function fix_audit_watch_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local path="$2"
local required_access_bits="$3"
local key="$4"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "4" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_watch_rule 'tool' 'path' 'bits' 'key'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
#
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Tool used to load audit rules	| Rule already defined	|  Audit rules file to inspect	  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#	auditctl		|     Doesn't matter	|  /etc/audit/audit.rules	  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 	augenrules		|          Yes		|  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules	  |
# 	augenrules		|          No		|  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
declare -a files_to_inspect

# Check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	exit 1
# If the audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# into the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules')
# If the audit is 'augenrules', then check if rule is already defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to list of files for inspection.
# If rule isn't defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to list of files for inspection.
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Backup IFS value
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Case when particular audit rule is already defined in some of /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules file
	# Get pair -- filepath : matching_row into @matches array
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(grep -P "[\s]*-w[\s]+$path" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# For each of the matched entries
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		# Extract filepath from the match
		rulesd_audit_file=$(echo $match | cut -f1 -d ':')
		# Append that path into list of files for inspection
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "$rulesd_audit_file")
	done
	# Case when particular audit rule isn't defined yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		# Append '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' into list of files for inspection
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		# If the $key.rules file doesn't exist yet, create it with correct permissions
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

# Finally perform the inspection and possible subsequent audit rule
# correction for each of the files previously identified for inspection
for audit_rules_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	# Check if audit watch file system object rule for given path already present
	if grep -q -P -- "[\s]*-w[\s]+$path" "$audit_rules_file"
	then
		# Rule is found => verify yet if existing rule definition contains
		# all of the required access type bits

		# Escape slashes in path for use in sed pattern below
		local esc_path=${path//$'/'/$'\/'}
		# Define BRE whitespace class shortcut
		local sp="[[:space:]]"
		# Extract current permission access types (e.g. -p [r|w|x|a] values) from audit rule
		current_access_bits=$(sed -ne "s/$sp*-w$sp\+$esc_path$sp\+-p$sp\+\([rxwa]\{1,4\}\).*/\1/p" "$audit_rules_file")
		# Split required access bits string into characters array
		# (to check bit's presence for one bit at a time)
		for access_bit in $(echo "$required_access_bits" | grep -o .)
		do
			# For each from the required access bits (e.g. 'w', 'a') check
			# if they are already present in current access bits for rule.
			# If not, append that bit at the end
			if ! grep -q "$access_bit" <<< "$current_access_bits"
			then
				# Concatenate the existing mask with the missing bit
				current_access_bits="$current_access_bits$access_bit"
			fi
		done
		# Propagate the updated rule's access bits (original + the required
		# ones) back into the /etc/audit/audit.rules file for that rule
		sed -i "s/\($sp*-w$sp\+$esc_path$sp\+-p$sp\+\)\([rxwa]\{1,4\}\)\(.*\)/\1$current_access_bits\3/" "$audit_rules_file"
	else
		# Rule isn't present yet. Append it at the end of $audit_rules_file file
		# with proper key

		echo "-w $path -p $required_access_bits -k $key" >> "$audit_rules_file"
	fi
done
}

fix_audit_watch_rule "auditctl" "/etc/localtime" "wa" "audit_time_rules"
fix_audit_watch_rule "augenrules" "/etc/localtime" "wa" "audit_time_rules"

Rule   Record Attempts to Alter Time Through clock_settime   [ref]

If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S clock_settime -F a0=0x0 -F key=time-change
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S clock_settime -F a0=0x0 -F key=time-change
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S clock_settime -F a0=0x0 -F key=time-change
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S clock_settime -F a0=0x0 -F key=time-change
The -k option allows for the specification of a key in string form that can be used for better reporting capability through ausearch and aureport. Multiple system calls can be defined on the same line to save space if desired, but is not required. See an example of multiple combined syscalls: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S adjtimex,settimeofday -F key=audit_time_rules

Rationale:

Arbitrary changes to the system time can be used to obfuscate nefarious activities in log files, as well as to confuse network services that are highly dependent upon an accurate system time (such as sshd). All changes to the system time should be audited.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.4, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-001487, CCI-000169, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, Req-10.4.2.b

Remediation Shell script:   (show)



# First perform the remediation of the syscall rule
# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ "$(getconf LONG_BIT)" = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do
	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S clock_settime -F a0=.* \(-F key=\|-k \).*"
	GROUP="clock_settime"
	FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S clock_settime -F a0=0x0 -k time-change"
	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}

	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done

Rule   Record attempts to alter time through adjtimex   [ref]

If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S adjtimex -F key=audit_time_rules
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S adjtimex -F key=audit_time_rules
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S adjtimex -F key=audit_time_rules
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S adjtimex -F key=audit_time_rules
The -k option allows for the specification of a key in string form that can be used for better reporting capability through ausearch and aureport. Multiple system calls can be defined on the same line to save space if desired, but is not required. See an example of multiple combined syscalls: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S adjtimex,settimeofday -F key=audit_time_rules

Rationale:

Arbitrary changes to the system time can be used to obfuscate nefarious activities in log files, as well as to confuse network services that are highly dependent upon an accurate system time (such as sshd). All changes to the system time should be audited.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.4, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-001487, CCI-000169, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, Req-10.4.2.b

Remediation Shell script:   (show)

# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}


# Function to perform remediation for the 'adjtimex', 'settimeofday', and 'stime' audit
# system calls on RHEL, Fedora or OL systems.
# Remediation performed for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'.
#
# Note: 'stime' system call isn't known at 64-bit arch (see "$ ausyscall x86_64 stime" 's output)
# therefore excluded from the list of time group system calls to be audited on this arch
#
# Example Call:
#
#      perform_audit_adjtimex_settimeofday_stime_remediation
#
function perform_audit_adjtimex_settimeofday_stime_remediation {

# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ $(getconf LONG_BIT) = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do

	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=${ARCH} -S .* -k *"
	# Create expected audit group and audit rule form for particular system call & architecture
	if [ ${ARCH} = "b32" ]
	then
		# stime system call is known at 32-bit arch (see e.g "$ ausyscall i386 stime" 's output)
		# so append it to the list of time group system calls to be audited
		GROUP="\(adjtimex\|settimeofday\|stime\)"
		FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=${ARCH} -S adjtimex -S settimeofday -S stime -k audit_time_rules"
	elif [ ${ARCH} = "b64" ]
	then
		# stime system call isn't known at 64-bit arch (see "$ ausyscall x86_64 stime" 's output)
		# therefore don't add it to the list of time group system calls to be audited
		GROUP="\(adjtimex\|settimeofday\)"
		FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=${ARCH} -S adjtimex -S settimeofday -k audit_time_rules"
	fi
	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done

}

perform_audit_adjtimex_settimeofday_stime_remediation
Group   Record Events that Modify the System's Discretionary Access Controls   Group contains 13 rules

[ref]   At a minimum, the audit system should collect file permission changes for all users and root. Note that the "-F arch=b32" lines should be present even on a 64 bit system. These commands identify system calls for auditing. Even if the system is 64 bit it can still execute 32 bit system calls. Additionally, these rules can be configured in a number of ways while still achieving the desired effect. An example of this is that the "-S" calls could be split up and placed on separate lines, however, this is less efficient. Add the following to /etc/audit/audit.rules: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S chmod,fchmod,fchmodat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S chown,fchown,fchownat,lchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S setxattr,lsetxattr,fsetxattr,removexattr,lremovexattr,fremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If your system is 64 bit then these lines should be duplicated and the arch=b32 replaced with arch=b64 as follows: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S chmod,fchmod,fchmodat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S chown,fchown,fchownat,lchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S setxattr,lsetxattr,fsetxattr,removexattr,lremovexattr,fremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod

Rule   Record Events that Modify the System's Discretionary Access Controls - fchown   [ref]

At a minimum, the audit system should collect file permission changes for all users and root. If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod

Warning:  Note that these rules can be configured in a number of ways while still achieving the desired effect. Here the system calls have been placed independent of other system calls. Grouping these system calls with others as identifying earlier in this guide is more efficient.
Rationale:

The changing of file permissions could indicate that a user is attempting to gain access to information that would otherwise be disallowed. Auditing DAC modifications can facilitate the identification of patterns of abuse among both authorized and unauthorized users.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.10, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-000126, CCI-000172, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, FAU_GEN.1.1.c, Req-10.5.5, SRG-OS-000064-GPOS-00033, SRG-OS-000392-GPOS-00172, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000474-GPOS-00219, SRG-OS-000458-VMM-001810, SRG-OS-000474-VMM-001940

Remediation Shell script:   (show)



# First perform the remediation of the syscall rule
# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ "$(getconf LONG_BIT)" = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do
	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S fchown.*"
	GROUP="perm_mod"
	FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S fchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod"

	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}

	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:low
Reboot:true
Strategy:restrict
- name: Set architecture for audit fchown tasks
  set_fact:
    audit_arch: b{{ ansible_architecture | regex_replace('.*(\d\d$)','\1') }}
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Search /etc/audit/rules.d for other DAC audit rules
  find:
    paths: /etc/audit/rules.d
    recurse: false
    contains: -F key=perm_mod$
    patterns: '*.rules'
  register: find_fchown
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: If existing DAC ruleset not found, use /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
    as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
  when:
    - find_fchown.matched is defined and find_fchown.matched == 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Use matched file as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - '{{ find_fchown.files | map(attribute=''path'') | list | first }}'
  when:
    - find_fchown.matched is defined and find_fchown.matched > 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fchown rule in rules.d when on x86
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fchown rule in rules.d when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fchown rule in /etc/audit/audit.rules when on x86
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fchown rule in audit.rules when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

Rule   Record Events that Modify the System's Discretionary Access Controls - setxattr   [ref]

At a minimum, the audit system should collect file permission changes for all users and root. If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S setxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S setxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S setxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S setxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod

Warning:  Note that these rules can be configured in a number of ways while still achieving the desired effect. Here the system calls have been placed independent of other system calls. Grouping these system calls with others as identifying earlier in this guide is more efficient.
Rationale:

The changing of file permissions could indicate that a user is attempting to gain access to information that would otherwise be disallowed. Auditing DAC modifications can facilitate the identification of patterns of abuse among both authorized and unauthorized users.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.10, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-000126, CCI-000172, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, FAU_GEN.1.1.c, Req-10.5.5, SRG-OS-000064-GPOS-00033, SRG-OS-000392-GPOS-00172, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000458-VMM-001810, SRG-OS-000474-VMM-001940

Remediation Shell script:   (show)



# First perform the remediation of the syscall rule
# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ "$(getconf LONG_BIT)" = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do
	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S setxattr.*"
	GROUP="perm_mod"
	FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S setxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod"

	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}

	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:low
Reboot:true
Strategy:restrict
- name: Set architecture for audit setxattr tasks
  set_fact:
    audit_arch: b{{ ansible_architecture | regex_replace('.*(\d\d$)','\1') }}
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_setxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Search /etc/audit/rules.d for other DAC audit rules
  find:
    paths: /etc/audit/rules.d
    recurse: false
    contains: -F key=perm_mod$
    patterns: '*.rules'
  register: find_setxattr
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_setxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: If existing DAC ruleset not found, use /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
    as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
  when:
    - find_setxattr.matched is defined and find_setxattr.matched == 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_setxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Use matched file as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - '{{ find_setxattr.files | map(attribute=''path'') | list | first }}'
  when:
    - find_setxattr.matched is defined and find_setxattr.matched > 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_setxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the setxattr rule in rules.d when on x86
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S setxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_setxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the setxattr rule in rules.d when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S setxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_setxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the setxattr rule in /etc/audit/audit.rules when on x86
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S setxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_setxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the setxattr rule in audit.rules when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S setxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_setxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

Rule   Record Events that Modify the System's Discretionary Access Controls - chown   [ref]

At a minimum, the audit system should collect file permission changes for all users and root. If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S chown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S chown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S chown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S chown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod

Warning:  Note that these rules can be configured in a number of ways while still achieving the desired effect. Here the system calls have been placed independent of other system calls. Grouping these system calls with others as identifying earlier in this guide is more efficient.
Rationale:

The changing of file permissions could indicate that a user is attempting to gain access to information that would otherwise be disallowed. Auditing DAC modifications can facilitate the identification of patterns of abuse among both authorized and unauthorized users.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.10, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-000126, CCI-000172, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, FAU_GEN.1.1.c, Req-10.5.5, SRG-OS-000064-GPOS-00033, SRG-OS-000392-GPOS-00172, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000474-GPOS-00219, SRG-OS-000458-VMM-001810, SRG-OS-000474-VMM-001940

Remediation Shell script:   (show)



# First perform the remediation of the syscall rule
# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ "$(getconf LONG_BIT)" = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do
	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S chown.*"
	GROUP="perm_mod"
	FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S chown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod"

	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}

	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:low
Reboot:true
Strategy:restrict
- name: Set architecture for audit chown tasks
  set_fact:
    audit_arch: b{{ ansible_architecture | regex_replace('.*(\d\d$)','\1') }}
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_chown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Search /etc/audit/rules.d for other DAC audit rules
  find:
    paths: /etc/audit/rules.d
    recurse: false
    contains: -F key=perm_mod$
    patterns: '*.rules'
  register: find_chown
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_chown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: If existing DAC ruleset not found, use /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
    as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
  when:
    - find_chown.matched is defined and find_chown.matched == 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_chown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Use matched file as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - '{{ find_chown.files | map(attribute=''path'') | list | first }}'
  when:
    - find_chown.matched is defined and find_chown.matched > 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_chown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the chown rule in rules.d when on x86
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S chown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_chown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the chown rule in rules.d when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S chown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_chown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the chown rule in /etc/audit/audit.rules when on x86
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S chown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_chown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the chown rule in audit.rules when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S chown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_chown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

Rule   Record Events that Modify the System's Discretionary Access Controls - removexattr   [ref]

At a minimum, the audit system should collect file permission changes for all users and root.

If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S removexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod


If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S removexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod


If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S removexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod


If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S removexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod

Warning:  Note that these rules can be configured in a number of ways while still achieving the desired effect. Here the system calls have been placed independent of other system calls. Grouping these system calls with others as identifying earlier in this guide is more efficient.
Rationale:

The changing of file permissions could indicate that a user is attempting to gain access to information that would otherwise be disallowed. Auditing DAC modifications can facilitate the identification of patterns of abuse among both authorized and unauthorized users.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.10, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-000172, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, FAU_GEN.1.1.c, Req-10.5.5, SRG-OS-000064-GPOS-00033, SRG-OS-000392-GPOS-00172, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000458-VMM-001810, SRG-OS-000474-VMM-001940

Remediation Shell script:   (show)



# First perform the remediation of the syscall rule
# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ "$(getconf LONG_BIT)" = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do
	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S removexattr.*"
	GROUP="perm_mod"
	FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S removexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod"

	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}

	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:low
Reboot:true
Strategy:restrict
- name: Set architecture for audit removexattr tasks
  set_fact:
    audit_arch: b{{ ansible_architecture | regex_replace('.*(\d\d$)','\1') }}
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_removexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Search /etc/audit/rules.d for other DAC audit rules
  find:
    paths: /etc/audit/rules.d
    recurse: false
    contains: -F key=perm_mod$
    patterns: '*.rules'
  register: find_removexattr
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_removexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: If existing DAC ruleset not found, use /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
    as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
  when:
    - find_removexattr.matched is defined and find_removexattr.matched == 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_removexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Use matched file as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - '{{ find_removexattr.files | map(attribute=''path'') | list | first }}'
  when:
    - find_removexattr.matched is defined and find_removexattr.matched > 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_removexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the removexattr rule in rules.d when on x86
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S removexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F
      key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_removexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the removexattr rule in rules.d when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S removexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F
      key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_removexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the removexattr rule in /etc/audit/audit.rules when on x86
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S removexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F
      key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_removexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the removexattr rule in audit.rules when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S removexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F
      key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_removexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

Rule   Record Events that Modify the System's Discretionary Access Controls - fchownat   [ref]

At a minimum, the audit system should collect file permission changes for all users and root. If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fchownat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fchownat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fchownat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fchownat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod

Warning:  Note that these rules can be configured in a number of ways while still achieving the desired effect. Here the system calls have been placed independent of other system calls. Grouping these system calls with others as identifying earlier in this guide is more efficient.
Rationale:

The changing of file permissions could indicate that a user is attempting to gain access to information that would otherwise be disallowed. Auditing DAC modifications can facilitate the identification of patterns of abuse among both authorized and unauthorized users.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.10, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-000126, CCI-000172, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, FAU_GEN.1.1.c, Req-10.5.5, SRG-OS-000064-GPOS-00033, SRG-OS-000392-GPOS-00172, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000474-GPOS-00219, SRG-OS-000458-VMM-001810, SRG-OS-000474-VMM-001940

Remediation Shell script:   (show)



# First perform the remediation of the syscall rule
# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ "$(getconf LONG_BIT)" = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do
	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S fchownat.*"
	GROUP="perm_mod"
	FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S fchownat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod"

	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}

	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:low
Reboot:true
Strategy:restrict
- name: Set architecture for audit fchownat tasks
  set_fact:
    audit_arch: b{{ ansible_architecture | regex_replace('.*(\d\d$)','\1') }}
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchownat
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Search /etc/audit/rules.d for other DAC audit rules
  find:
    paths: /etc/audit/rules.d
    recurse: false
    contains: -F key=perm_mod$
    patterns: '*.rules'
  register: find_fchownat
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchownat
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: If existing DAC ruleset not found, use /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
    as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
  when:
    - find_fchownat.matched is defined and find_fchownat.matched == 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchownat
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Use matched file as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - '{{ find_fchownat.files | map(attribute=''path'') | list | first }}'
  when:
    - find_fchownat.matched is defined and find_fchownat.matched > 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchownat
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fchownat rule in rules.d when on x86
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fchownat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchownat
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fchownat rule in rules.d when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fchownat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchownat
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fchownat rule in /etc/audit/audit.rules when on x86
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fchownat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchownat
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fchownat rule in audit.rules when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fchownat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchownat
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

Rule   Record Events that Modify the System's Discretionary Access Controls - chmod   [ref]

At a minimum, the audit system should collect file permission changes for all users and root. If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S chmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S chmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S chmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S chmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod

Warning:  Note that these rules can be configured in a number of ways while still achieving the desired effect. Here the system calls have been placed independent of other system calls. Grouping these system calls with others as identifying earlier in this guide is more efficient.
Rationale:

The changing of file permissions could indicate that a user is attempting to gain access to information that would otherwise be disallowed. Auditing DAC modifications can facilitate the identification of patterns of abuse among both authorized and unauthorized users.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.10, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-000126, CCI-000172, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, FAU_GEN.1.1.c, Req-10.5.5, SRG-OS-000064-GPOS-00033, SRG-OS-000392-GPOS-00172, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000458-VMM-001810, SRG-OS-000474-VMM-001940

Remediation Shell script:   (show)



# First perform the remediation of the syscall rule
# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ "$(getconf LONG_BIT)" = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do
	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S chmod.*"
	GROUP="perm_mod"
	FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S chmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod"

	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}

	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:low
Reboot:true
Strategy:restrict
- name: Set architecture for audit chmod tasks
  set_fact:
    audit_arch: b{{ ansible_architecture | regex_replace('.*(\d\d$)','\1') }}
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_chmod
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Search /etc/audit/rules.d for other DAC audit rules
  find:
    paths: /etc/audit/rules.d
    recurse: false
    contains: -F key=perm_mod$
    patterns: '*.rules'
  register: find_chmod
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_chmod
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: If existing DAC ruleset not found, use /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
    as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
  when:
    - find_chmod.matched is defined and find_chmod.matched == 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_chmod
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Use matched file as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - '{{ find_chmod.files | map(attribute=''path'') | list | first }}'
  when:
    - find_chmod.matched is defined and find_chmod.matched > 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_chmod
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the chmod rule in rules.d when on x86
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S chmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_chmod
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the chmod rule in rules.d when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S chmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_chmod
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the chmod rule in /etc/audit/audit.rules when on x86
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S chmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_chmod
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the chmod rule in audit.rules when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S chmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_chmod
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

Rule   Record Events that Modify the System's Discretionary Access Controls - fsetxattr   [ref]

At a minimum, the audit system should collect file permission changes for all users and root. If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod

Warning:  Note that these rules can be configured in a number of ways while still achieving the desired effect. Here the system calls have been placed independent of other system calls. Grouping these system calls with others as identifying earlier in this guide is more efficient.
Rationale:

The changing of file permissions could indicate that a user is attempting to gain access to information that would otherwise be disallowed. Auditing DAC modifications can facilitate the identification of patterns of abuse among both authorized and unauthorized users.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.10, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-000126, CCI-000172, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, FAU_GEN.1.1.c, Req-10.5.5, SRG-OS-000064-GPOS-00033, SRG-OS-000392-GPOS-00172, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000458-VMM-001810, SRG-OS-000474-VMM-001940

Remediation Shell script:   (show)



# First perform the remediation of the syscall rule
# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ "$(getconf LONG_BIT)" = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do
	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S fsetxattr.*"
	GROUP="perm_mod"
	FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S fsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod"

	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}

	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:low
Reboot:true
Strategy:restrict
- name: Set architecture for audit fsetxattr tasks
  set_fact:
    audit_arch: b{{ ansible_architecture | regex_replace('.*(\d\d$)','\1') }}
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fsetxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Search /etc/audit/rules.d for other DAC audit rules
  find:
    paths: /etc/audit/rules.d
    recurse: false
    contains: -F key=perm_mod$
    patterns: '*.rules'
  register: find_fsetxattr
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fsetxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: If existing DAC ruleset not found, use /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
    as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
  when:
    - find_fsetxattr.matched is defined and find_fsetxattr.matched == 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fsetxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Use matched file as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - '{{ find_fsetxattr.files | map(attribute=''path'') | list | first }}'
  when:
    - find_fsetxattr.matched is defined and find_fsetxattr.matched > 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fsetxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fsetxattr rule in rules.d when on x86
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F
      key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fsetxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fsetxattr rule in rules.d when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F
      key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fsetxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fsetxattr rule in /etc/audit/audit.rules when on x86
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F
      key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fsetxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fsetxattr rule in audit.rules when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F
      key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fsetxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

Rule   Record Events that Modify the System's Discretionary Access Controls - fchmod   [ref]

At a minimum, the audit system should collect file permission changes for all users and root. If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fchmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fchmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fchmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fchmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod

Warning:  Note that these rules can be configured in a number of ways while still achieving the desired effect. Here the system calls have been placed independent of other system calls. Grouping these system calls with others as identifying earlier in this guide is more efficient.
Rationale:

The changing of file permissions could indicate that a user is attempting to gain access to information that would otherwise be disallowed. Auditing DAC modifications can facilitate the identification of patterns of abuse among both authorized and unauthorized users.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.10, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-000126, CCI-000172, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, FAU_GEN.1.1.c, Req-10.5.5, SRG-OS-000064-GPOS-00033, SRG-OS-000392-GPOS-00172, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000458-VMM-001810, SRG-OS-000474-VMM-001940

Remediation Shell script:   (show)



# First perform the remediation of the syscall rule
# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ "$(getconf LONG_BIT)" = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do
	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S fchmod.*"
	GROUP="perm_mod"
	FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S fchmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod"

	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}

	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:low
Reboot:true
Strategy:restrict
- name: Set architecture for audit fchmod tasks
  set_fact:
    audit_arch: b{{ ansible_architecture | regex_replace('.*(\d\d$)','\1') }}
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchmod
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Search /etc/audit/rules.d for other DAC audit rules
  find:
    paths: /etc/audit/rules.d
    recurse: false
    contains: -F key=perm_mod$
    patterns: '*.rules'
  register: find_fchmod
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchmod
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: If existing DAC ruleset not found, use /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
    as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
  when:
    - find_fchmod.matched is defined and find_fchmod.matched == 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchmod
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Use matched file as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - '{{ find_fchmod.files | map(attribute=''path'') | list | first }}'
  when:
    - find_fchmod.matched is defined and find_fchmod.matched > 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchmod
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fchmod rule in rules.d when on x86
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fchmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchmod
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fchmod rule in rules.d when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fchmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchmod
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fchmod rule in /etc/audit/audit.rules when on x86
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fchmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchmod
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fchmod rule in audit.rules when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fchmod -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchmod
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

Rule   Record Events that Modify the System's Discretionary Access Controls - lsetxattr   [ref]

At a minimum, the audit system should collect file permission changes for all users and root. If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S lsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S lsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S lsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S lsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod

Warning:  Note that these rules can be configured in a number of ways while still achieving the desired effect. Here the system calls have been placed independent of other system calls. Grouping these system calls with others as identifying earlier in this guide is more efficient.
Rationale:

The changing of file permissions could indicate that a user is attempting to gain access to information that would otherwise be disallowed. Auditing DAC modifications can facilitate the identification of patterns of abuse among both authorized and unauthorized users.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.10, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-000126, CCI-000172, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, FAU_GEN.1.1.c, Req-10.5.5, SRG-OS-000064-GPOS-00033, SRG-OS-000392-GPOS-00172, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000474-GPOS-00219, SRG-OS-000458-VMM-001810, SRG-OS-000474-VMM-001940

Remediation Shell script:   (show)



# First perform the remediation of the syscall rule
# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ "$(getconf LONG_BIT)" = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do
	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S lsetxattr.*"
	GROUP="perm_mod"
	FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S lsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod"

	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}

	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:low
Reboot:true
Strategy:restrict
- name: Set architecture for audit lsetxattr tasks
  set_fact:
    audit_arch: b{{ ansible_architecture | regex_replace('.*(\d\d$)','\1') }}
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lsetxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Search /etc/audit/rules.d for other DAC audit rules
  find:
    paths: /etc/audit/rules.d
    recurse: false
    contains: -F key=perm_mod$
    patterns: '*.rules'
  register: find_lsetxattr
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lsetxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: If existing DAC ruleset not found, use /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
    as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
  when:
    - find_lsetxattr.matched is defined and find_lsetxattr.matched == 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lsetxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Use matched file as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - '{{ find_lsetxattr.files | map(attribute=''path'') | list | first }}'
  when:
    - find_lsetxattr.matched is defined and find_lsetxattr.matched > 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lsetxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the lsetxattr rule in rules.d when on x86
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S lsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F
      key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lsetxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the lsetxattr rule in rules.d when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S lsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F
      key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lsetxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the lsetxattr rule in /etc/audit/audit.rules when on x86
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S lsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F
      key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lsetxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the lsetxattr rule in audit.rules when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S lsetxattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F
      key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lsetxattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

Rule   Record Events that Modify the System's Discretionary Access Controls - fremovexattr   [ref]

At a minimum, the audit system should collect file permission changes for all users and root.

If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod


If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod


If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod


If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod

Warning:  Note that these rules can be configured in a number of ways while still achieving the desired effect. Here the system calls have been placed independent of other system calls. Grouping these system calls with others as identifying earlier in this guide is more efficient.
Rationale:

The changing of file permissions could indicate that a user is attempting to gain access to information that would otherwise be disallowed. Auditing DAC modifications can facilitate the identification of patterns of abuse among both authorized and unauthorized users.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.10, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-000172, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, FAU_GEN.1.1.c, Req-10.5.5, SRG-OS-000064-GPOS-00033, SRG-OS-000392-GPOS-00172, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000458-VMM-001810, SRG-OS-000474-VMM-001940

Remediation Shell script:   (show)



# First perform the remediation of the syscall rule
# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ "$(getconf LONG_BIT)" = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do
	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S fremovexattr.*"
	GROUP="perm_mod"
	FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S fremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod"

	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}

	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:low
Reboot:true
Strategy:restrict
- name: Set architecture for audit fremovexattr tasks
  set_fact:
    audit_arch: b{{ ansible_architecture | regex_replace('.*(\d\d$)','\1') }}
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fremovexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Search /etc/audit/rules.d for other DAC audit rules
  find:
    paths: /etc/audit/rules.d
    recurse: false
    contains: -F key=perm_mod$
    patterns: '*.rules'
  register: find_fremovexattr
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fremovexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: If existing DAC ruleset not found, use /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
    as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
  when:
    - find_fremovexattr.matched is defined and find_fremovexattr.matched == 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fremovexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Use matched file as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - '{{ find_fremovexattr.files | map(attribute=''path'') | list | first }}'
  when:
    - find_fremovexattr.matched is defined and find_fremovexattr.matched > 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fremovexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fremovexattr rule in rules.d when on x86
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset
      -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fremovexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fremovexattr rule in rules.d when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset
      -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fremovexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fremovexattr rule in /etc/audit/audit.rules when on x86
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset
      -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fremovexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fremovexattr rule in audit.rules when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset
      -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fremovexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

Rule   Record Events that Modify the System's Discretionary Access Controls - lchown   [ref]

At a minimum, the audit system should collect file permission changes for all users and root. If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S lchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S lchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S lchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S lchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod

Warning:  Note that these rules can be configured in a number of ways while still achieving the desired effect. Here the system calls have been placed independent of other system calls. Grouping these system calls with others as identifying earlier in this guide is more efficient.
Rationale:

The changing of file permissions could indicate that a user is attempting to gain access to information that would otherwise be disallowed. Auditing DAC modifications can facilitate the identification of patterns of abuse among both authorized and unauthorized users.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.10, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-000126, CCI-000172, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, FAU_GEN.1.1.c, Req-10.5.5, SRG-OS-000064-GPOS-00033, SRG-OS-000392-GPOS-00172, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000474-GPOS-00219, SRG-OS-000458-VMM-001810, SRG-OS-000474-VMM-001940

Remediation Shell script:   (show)



# First perform the remediation of the syscall rule
# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ "$(getconf LONG_BIT)" = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do
	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S lchown.*"
	GROUP="perm_mod"
	FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S lchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod"

	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}

	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:low
Reboot:true
Strategy:restrict
- name: Set architecture for audit lchown tasks
  set_fact:
    audit_arch: b{{ ansible_architecture | regex_replace('.*(\d\d$)','\1') }}
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lchown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Search /etc/audit/rules.d for other DAC audit rules
  find:
    paths: /etc/audit/rules.d
    recurse: false
    contains: -F key=perm_mod$
    patterns: '*.rules'
  register: find_lchown
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lchown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: If existing DAC ruleset not found, use /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
    as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
  when:
    - find_lchown.matched is defined and find_lchown.matched == 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lchown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Use matched file as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - '{{ find_lchown.files | map(attribute=''path'') | list | first }}'
  when:
    - find_lchown.matched is defined and find_lchown.matched > 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lchown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the lchown rule in rules.d when on x86
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S lchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lchown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the lchown rule in rules.d when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S lchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lchown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the lchown rule in /etc/audit/audit.rules when on x86
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S lchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lchown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the lchown rule in audit.rules when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S lchown -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lchown
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

Rule   Record Events that Modify the System's Discretionary Access Controls - fchmodat   [ref]

At a minimum, the audit system should collect file permission changes for all users and root. If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fchmodat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fchmodat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fchmodat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fchmodat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod

Warning:  Note that these rules can be configured in a number of ways while still achieving the desired effect. Here the system calls have been placed independent of other system calls. Grouping these system calls with others as identifying earlier in this guide is more efficient.
Rationale:

The changing of file permissions could indicate that a user is attempting to gain access to information that would otherwise be disallowed. Auditing DAC modifications can facilitate the identification of patterns of abuse among both authorized and unauthorized users.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.10, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-000126, CCI-000172, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, FAU_GEN.1.1.c, Req-10.5.5, SRG-OS-000064-GPOS-00033, SRG-OS-000392-GPOS-00172, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000458-VMM-001810, SRG-OS-000474-VMM-001940

Remediation Shell script:   (show)



# First perform the remediation of the syscall rule
# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ "$(getconf LONG_BIT)" = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do
	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S fchmodat.*"
	GROUP="perm_mod"
	FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S fchmodat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod"

	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}

	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:low
Reboot:true
Strategy:restrict
- name: Set architecture for audit fchmodat tasks
  set_fact:
    audit_arch: b{{ ansible_architecture | regex_replace('.*(\d\d$)','\1') }}
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchmodat
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Search /etc/audit/rules.d for other DAC audit rules
  find:
    paths: /etc/audit/rules.d
    recurse: false
    contains: -F key=perm_mod$
    patterns: '*.rules'
  register: find_fchmodat
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchmodat
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: If existing DAC ruleset not found, use /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
    as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
  when:
    - find_fchmodat.matched is defined and find_fchmodat.matched == 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchmodat
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Use matched file as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - '{{ find_fchmodat.files | map(attribute=''path'') | list | first }}'
  when:
    - find_fchmodat.matched is defined and find_fchmodat.matched > 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchmodat
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fchmodat rule in rules.d when on x86
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fchmodat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchmodat
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fchmodat rule in rules.d when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fchmodat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchmodat
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fchmodat rule in /etc/audit/audit.rules when on x86
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S fchmodat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchmodat
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the fchmodat rule in audit.rules when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S fchmodat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_fchmodat
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

Rule   Record Events that Modify the System's Discretionary Access Controls - lremovexattr   [ref]

At a minimum, the audit system should collect file permission changes for all users and root.

If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d: 

-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S lremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod


If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S lremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod


If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S lremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod


If the system is 64 bit then also add the following line: 
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S lremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod

Warning:  Note that these rules can be configured in a number of ways while still achieving the desired effect. Here the system calls have been placed independent of other system calls. Grouping these system calls with others as identifying earlier in this guide is more efficient.
Rationale:

The changing of file permissions could indicate that a user is attempting to gain access to information that would otherwise be disallowed. Auditing DAC modifications can facilitate the identification of patterns of abuse among both authorized and unauthorized users.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.10, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-000172, 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D), 164.308(a)(3)(ii)(A), 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(C), 164.312(a)(2)(i), 164.312(b), 164.312(d), 164.312(e), 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, FAU_GEN.1.1.c, Req-10.5.5, SRG-OS-000064-GPOS-00033, SRG-OS-000392-GPOS-00172, SRG-OS-000458-GPOS-00203, SRG-OS-000458-VMM-001810, SRG-OS-000474-VMM-001940

Remediation Shell script:   (show)



# First perform the remediation of the syscall rule
# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ "$(getconf LONG_BIT)" = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do
	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S lremovexattr.*"
	GROUP="perm_mod"
	FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S lremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=perm_mod"

	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}

	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done
Remediation Ansible snippet:   (show)

Complexity:low
Disruption:low
Reboot:true
Strategy:restrict
- name: Set architecture for audit lremovexattr tasks
  set_fact:
    audit_arch: b{{ ansible_architecture | regex_replace('.*(\d\d$)','\1') }}
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lremovexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Search /etc/audit/rules.d for other DAC audit rules
  find:
    paths: /etc/audit/rules.d
    recurse: false
    contains: -F key=perm_mod$
    patterns: '*.rules'
  register: find_lremovexattr
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lremovexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: If existing DAC ruleset not found, use /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
    as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
  when:
    - find_lremovexattr.matched is defined and find_lremovexattr.matched == 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lremovexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Use matched file as the recipient for the rule
  set_fact:
    all_files:
      - '{{ find_lremovexattr.files | map(attribute=''path'') | list | first }}'
  when:
    - find_lremovexattr.matched is defined and find_lremovexattr.matched > 0
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lremovexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the lremovexattr rule in rules.d when on x86
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S lremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset
      -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lremovexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the lremovexattr rule in rules.d when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    path: '{{ all_files[0] }}'
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S lremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset
      -F key=perm_mod
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lremovexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the lremovexattr rule in /etc/audit/audit.rules when on x86
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S lremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset
      -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
  when: ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lremovexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1

- name: Inserts/replaces the lremovexattr rule in audit.rules when on x86_64
  lineinfile:
    line: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S lremovexattr -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset
      -F key=perm_mod
    state: present
    dest: /etc/audit/audit.rules
    create: true
  when:
    - audit_arch is defined and audit_arch == 'b64'
    - ansible_virtualization_role != "guest" or ansible_virtualization_type != "docker"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_dac_modification_lremovexattr
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - reboot_required
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.5.5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1
Group   Record File Deletion Events by User   Group contains 1 rule

[ref]   At a minimum, the audit system should collect file deletion events for all users and root. If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d, setting ARCH to either b32 or b64 as appropriate for your system: 

-a always,exit -F arch=ARCH -S rmdir,unlink,unlinkat,rename,renameat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=delete
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file, setting ARCH to either b32 or b64 as appropriate for your system: 
-a always,exit -F arch=ARCH -S rmdir,unlink,unlinkat,rename,renameat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=delete

Rule   Ensure auditd Collects File Deletion Events by User   [ref]

At a minimum the audit system should collect file deletion events for all users and root. If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add the following line to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d, setting ARCH to either b32 or b64 as appropriate for your system: 

-a always,exit -F arch=ARCH -S rmdir,unlink,unlinkat,rename,renameat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=delete
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add the following line to /etc/audit/audit.rules file, setting ARCH to either b32 or b64 as appropriate for your system: 
-a always,exit -F arch=ARCH -S rmdir,unlink,unlinkat,rename -S renameat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=delete

Warning:  This rule checks for multiple syscalls related to file deletion; it was written with DISA STIG in mind. Other policies should use a separate rule for each syscall that needs to be checked. For example:
  • audit_rules_file_deletion_events_rmdir
  • audit_rules_file_deletion_events_unlink
  • audit_rules_file_deletion_events_unlinkat
Rationale:

Auditing file deletions will create an audit trail for files that are removed from the system. The audit trail could aid in system troubleshooting, as well as, detecting malicious processes that attempt to delete log files to conceal their presence.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.14, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-000366, CCI-000172, CCI-002884, 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1, A.13.1.1, A.13.2.1, A.14.1.3, A.14.2.7, A.15.2.1, A.15.2.2, A.16.1.4, A.16.1.5, A.16.1.7, A.6.2.1, A.6.2.2, AC-17(7), AU-1(b), AU-2(a), AU-2(c), AU-2(d), AU-12(a), AU-12(c), IR-5, DE.AE-3, DE.AE-5, DE.CM-1, DE.CM-3, DE.CM-7, ID.SC-4, PR.AC-3, PR.PT-1, PR.PT-4, RS.AN-1, RS.AN-4, FAU_GEN.1.1.c, Req-10.2.7

Remediation Shell script:   (show)



# Perform the remediation for the syscall rule
# Retrieve hardware architecture of the underlying system
[ $(getconf LONG_BIT) = "32" ] && RULE_ARCHS=("b32") || RULE_ARCHS=("b32" "b64")

for ARCH in "${RULE_ARCHS[@]}"
do
	PATTERN="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S .* -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -k *"
	# Use escaped BRE regex to specify rule group
	GROUP="\(rmdir\|unlink\|rename\)"
	FULL_RULE="-a always,exit -F arch=$ARCH -S rmdir -S unlink -S unlinkat -S rename -S renameat -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -k delete"
	# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
# Function to fix syscall audit rule for given system call. It is
# based on example audit syscall rule definitions as outlined in
# /usr/share/doc/audit-2.3.7/stig.rules file provided with the audit
# package. It will combine multiple system calls belonging to the same
# syscall group into one audit rule (rather than to create audit rule per
# different system call) to avoid audit infrastructure performance penalty
# in the case of 'one-audit-rule-definition-per-one-system-call'. See:
#
#   https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-audit/2014-November/msg00009.html
#
# for further details.
#
# Expects five arguments (each of them is required) in the form of:
# * audit tool				tool used to load audit rules,
# 					either 'auditctl', or 'augenrules
# * audit rules' pattern		audit rule skeleton for same syscall
# * syscall group			greatest common string this rule shares
# 					with other rules from the same group
# * architecture			architecture this rule is intended for
# * full form of new rule to add	expected full form of audit rule as to be
# 					added into audit.rules file
#
# Note: The 2-th up to 4-th arguments are used to determine how many existing
# audit rules will be inspected for resemblance with the new audit rule
# (5-th argument) the function is going to add. The rule's similarity check
# is performed to optimize audit.rules definition (merge syscalls of the same
# group into one rule) to avoid the "single-syscall-per-audit-rule" performance
# penalty.
#
# Example call:
#
#	See e.g. 'audit_rules_file_deletion_events.sh' remediation script
#
function fix_audit_syscall_rule {

# Load function arguments into local variables
local tool="$1"
local pattern="$2"
local group="$3"
local arch="$4"
local full_rule="$5"

# Check sanity of the input
if [ $# -ne "5" ]
then
	echo "Usage: fix_audit_syscall_rule 'tool' 'pattern' 'group' 'arch' 'full rule'"
	echo "Aborting."
	exit 1
fi

# Create a list of audit *.rules files that should be inspected for presence and correctness
# of a particular audit rule. The scheme is as follows:
# 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#  Tool used to load audit rules | Rule already defined  |  Audit rules file to inspect    |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        auditctl                |     Doesn't matter    |  /etc/audit/audit.rules         |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#        augenrules              |          Yes          |  /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules     |
#        augenrules              |          No           |  /etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules  |
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
declare -a files_to_inspect

retval=0

# First check sanity of the specified audit tool
if [ "$tool" != 'auditctl' ] && [ "$tool" != 'augenrules' ]
then
	echo "Unknown audit rules loading tool: $1. Aborting."
	echo "Use either 'auditctl' or 'augenrules'!"
	return 1
# If audit tool is 'auditctl', then add '/etc/audit/audit.rules'
# file to the list of files to be inspected
elif [ "$tool" == 'auditctl' ]
then
	files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" '/etc/audit/audit.rules' )
# If audit tool is 'augenrules', then check if the audit rule is defined
# If rule is defined, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules' to the list for inspection
# If rule isn't defined yet, add '/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules' to the list for inspection
elif [ "$tool" == 'augenrules' ]
then
	# Extract audit $key from audit rule so we can use it later
	key=$(expr "$full_rule" : '.*-k[[:space:]]\([^[:space:]]\+\)' '|' "$full_rule" : '.*-F[[:space:]]key=\([^[:space:]]\+\)')
	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Check if particular audit rule is already defined
	IFS=$'\n'
	matches=($(sed -s -n -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d;F" /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"
	for match in "${matches[@]}"
	do
		files_to_inspect=("${files_to_inspect[@]}" "${match}")
	done
	# Case when particular rule isn't defined in /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules yet
	if [ ${#files_to_inspect[@]} -eq "0" ]
	then
		files_to_inspect="/etc/audit/rules.d/$key.rules"
		if [ ! -e "$files_to_inspect" ]
		then
			touch "$files_to_inspect"
			chmod 0640 "$files_to_inspect"
		fi
	fi
fi

#
# Indicator that we want to append $full_rule into $audit_file by default
local append_expected_rule=0

for audit_file in "${files_to_inspect[@]}"
do

	IFS_BKP="$IFS"
	# Filter existing $audit_file rules' definitions to select those that:
	# * follow the rule pattern, and
	# * meet the hardware architecture requirement, and
	# * are current syscall group specific
	IFS=$'\n'
	existing_rules=($(sed -e "\;${pattern};!d" -e "/${arch}/!d" -e "/${group}/!d"  "$audit_file"))
	if [ $? -ne 0 ]
	then
		retval=1
	fi
	# Reset IFS back to default
	IFS="$IFS_BKP"

	# Process rules found case-by-case
	for rule in "${existing_rules[@]}"
	do
		# Found rule is for same arch & key, but differs (e.g. in count of -S arguments)
		if [ "${rule}" != "${full_rule}" ]
		then
			# If so, isolate just '(-S \w)+' substring of that rule
			rule_syscalls=$(echo $rule | grep -o -P '(-S \w+ )+')
			# Check if list of '-S syscall' arguments of that rule is subset
			# of '-S syscall' list of expected $full_rule
			if grep -q -- "$rule_syscalls" <<< "$full_rule"
			then
				# Rule is covered (i.e. the list of -S syscalls for this rule is
				# subset of -S syscalls of $full_rule => existing rule can be deleted
				# Thus delete the rule from audit.rules & our array
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				existing_rules=("${existing_rules[@]//$rule/}")
			else
				# Rule isn't covered by $full_rule - it besides -S syscall arguments
				# for this group contains also -S syscall arguments for other syscall
				# group. Example: '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' => group='chown'
				# since 'lchown' & 'fchownat' share 'chown' substring
				# Therefore:
				# * 1) delete the original rule from audit.rules
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' rule would be deleted)
				# * 2) delete the -S syscall arguments for this syscall group, but
				# keep those not belonging to this syscall group
				# (original '-S lchown -S fchmod -S fchownat' would become '-S fchmod'
				# * 3) append the modified (filtered) rule again into audit.rules
				# if the same rule not already present
				#
				# 1) Delete the original rule
				sed -i -e "\;${rule};d" "$audit_file"
				if [ $? -ne 0 ]
				then
					retval=1
				fi
				IFS_BKP="$IFS"
				# 2) Delete syscalls for this group, but keep those from other groups
				# Convert current rule syscall's string into array splitting by '-S' delimiter
				IFS=$'-S'
				read -a rule_syscalls_as_array <<< "$rule_syscalls"
				# Reset IFS back to default
				IFS="$IFS_BKP"
				# Declare new empty string to hold '-S syscall' arguments from other groups
				new_syscalls_for_rule=''
				# Walk through existing '-S syscall' arguments
				for syscall_arg in "${rule_syscalls_as_array[@]}"
				do
					# Skip empty $syscall_arg values
					if [ "$syscall_arg" == '' ]
					then
						continue
					fi
					# If the '-S syscall' doesn't belong to current group add it to the new list
					# (together with adding '-S' delimiter back for each of such item found)
					if grep -q -v -- "$group" <<< "$syscall_arg"
					then
						new_syscalls_for_rule="$new_syscalls_for_rule -S $syscall_arg"
					fi
				done
				# Replace original '-S syscall' list with the new one for this rule
				updated_rule=${rule//$rule_syscalls/$new_syscalls_for_rule}
				# Squeeze repeated whitespace characters in rule definition (if any) into one
				updated_rule=$(echo "$updated_rule" | tr -s '[:space:]')
				# 3) Append the modified / filtered rule again into audit.rules
				#    (but only in case it's not present yet to prevent duplicate definitions)
				if ! grep -q -- "$updated_rule" "$audit_file"
				then
					echo "$updated_rule" >> "$audit_file"
				fi
			fi
		else
			# $audit_file already contains the expected rule form for this
			# architecture & key => don't insert it second time
			append_expected_rule=1
		fi
	done

	# We deleted all rules that were subset of the expected one for this arch & key.
	# Also isolated rules containing system calls not from this system calls group.
	# Now append the expected rule if it's not present in $audit_file yet
	if [[ ${append_expected_rule} -eq "0" ]]
	then
		echo "$full_rule" >> "$audit_file"
	fi
done

return $retval

}

	fix_audit_syscall_rule "auditctl" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
	fix_audit_syscall_rule "augenrules" "$PATTERN" "$GROUP" "$ARCH" "$FULL_RULE"
done
Group   Record Information on the Use of Privileged Commands   Group contains 1 rule

[ref]   At a minimum, the audit system should collect the execution of privileged commands for all users and root.

Rule   Ensure auditd Collects Information on the Use of Privileged Commands   [ref]

At a minimum, the audit system should collect the execution of privileged commands for all users and root. To find the relevant setuid / setgid programs, run the following command for each local partition PART: 

$ sudo find PART -xdev -type f -perm -4000 -o -type f -perm -2000 2>/dev/null
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add a line of the following form to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d for each setuid / setgid program on the system, replacing the SETUID_PROG_PATH part with the full path of that setuid / setgid program in the list: 
-a always,exit -F path=SETUID_PROG_PATH -F perm=x -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=privileged
If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add a line of the following form to /etc/audit/audit.rules for each setuid / setgid program on the system, replacing the SETUID_PROG_PATH part with the full path of that setuid / setgid program in the list: 
-a always,exit -F path=SETUID_PROG_PATH -F perm=x -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=unset -F key=privileged

Warning:  This rule checks for multiple syscalls related to privileged commands; it was written with DISA STIG in mind. Other policies should use a separate rule for each syscall that needs to be checked. For example:
  • audit_rules_privileged_commands_su
  • audit_rules_privileged_commands_umount
  • audit_rules_privileged_commands_passwd
Rationale:

Misuse of privileged functions, either intentionally or unintentionally by authorized users, or by unauthorized external entities that have compromised 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 and advanced persistent threast.

Privileged programs are subject to escalation-of-privilege attacks, which attempt to subvert their normal role of providing some necessary but limited capability. As such, motivation exists to monitor these programs for unusual activity.

Severity: 
medium
Identifiers and References

References:  5.2.10, 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.4.1.1, APO08.04, APO10.01, APO10.03, APO10.04, APO10.05, APO11.04, APO12.06, APO13.01, BAI03.05, BAI08.02, DSS01.03, DSS01.04, DSS02.02, DSS02.04, DSS02.05, DSS02.07, DSS03.01, DSS03.05, DSS05.02, DSS05.03, DSS05.04, DSS05.05, DSS05.07, MEA01.01, MEA01.02, MEA01.03, MEA01.04, MEA01.05, MEA02.01, 3.1.7, CCI-002234, 4.2.3.10, 4.3.2.6.7, 4.3.3.3.9, 4.3.3.5.8, 4.3.3.6.6, 4.3.4.4.7, 4.3.4.5.5, 4.3.4.5.6, 4.3.4.5.7, 4.3.4.5.8, 4.3.4.5.9, 4.4.2.1, 4.4.2.2, 4.4.2.4, SR 1.13, SR 2.10, SR 2.11, SR 2.12, SR 2.6, SR 2.8, SR 2.9, SR 3.1, SR 3.5, SR 3.8, SR 3.9, SR 4.1, SR 4.3, SR 5.1, SR 5.2, SR 5.3, SR 6.1, SR 6.2, SR 7.1, SR 7.6, A.11.2.6, A.12.4.1, A.12.4.2, A.12.4.3, A.12.4.4, A.12.7.1,