2.4.1 Audit Menu Bar and Control Center Icons

Information

The Menu Bar is the horizontal strip that runs across the very top of your Mac's screen. The Control Center is a panel that groups the most frequently used system settings into one convenient location, similar to Control Center on an iPhone or iPad.

The presence of an unfamiliar or persistent icon, especially those indicating active sensors when you are not actively using an app that needs them, ex: the orange/green/purple dots for microphone, camera, or system audio. Inconsiderate application vendors may insert an icon in the menu bar on application install without user interaction.

NOTE: Nessus has not performed this check. Please review the benchmark to ensure target compliance.

Solution

Graphical Method:

Perform the following steps to set (or remove) Menu Bar and Control Center icons:

- Open System Settings
- Select Menu Bar
- Remove any items in Allow in the menu bar section are not allowed by your organization

Note: If there are unrecognized applications in the Allow in the Menu Bar section, this is a finding and should be investigated.

- Select the Control Center icon in the menu bar
- Set the Control Center options to meet your organization's requirements

Note: If there are unrecognized settings in Control Center, this is a finding and should be investigated.

Impact:

There should be no impact on the user.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/23040

Item Details

Category: ACCESS CONTROL, CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT, SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATIONS PROTECTION

References: 800-53|AC-18, 800-53|CM-6, 800-53|CM-7, 800-53|SC-23, CSCv7|15.4, CSCv7|15.5

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: d852bf4d2dee1bbf5092ff19af074eb67e98907d1fdc80cdedaba7ea36e38575