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6.3.1.5 Ensure the operating system allocates a sufficient audit_backlog_limit to capture processes that start prior to the audit daemon

Information

The operating system must allocate an audit_backlog_limit of sufficient size to capture processes that start prior to the audit daemon.

Without the capability to generate audit records, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.

If auditing is enabled late in the startup process, the actions of some startup processes may not be audited. Some audit systems also maintain state information only available if auditing is enabled before a given process is created.

Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter).

Allocating an audit_backlog_limit of sufficient size is critical in maintaining a stable boot process. With an insufficient limit allocated, the system is susceptible to boot failures and crashes.

Solution

Configure the operating system to allocate sufficient audit_backlog_limit to capture processes that start prior to the audit daemon with the following command:

# grubby --update-kernel=ALL --args="audit_backlog_limit=8192"

Add or modify the following line in "/etc/default/grub" to ensure the configuration survives kernel updates:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="audit_backlog_limit=8192"

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/19886

Item Details

Category: AUDIT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

References: 800-53|AU-3, 800-53|AU-3(1), 800-53|AU-4, 800-53|AU-7, 800-53|AU-12, CAT|III, CSCv7|6.2, CSCv7|6.3, Rule-ID|SV-230469r877391_rule, STIG-ID|RHEL-08-030602, Vuln-ID|V-230469

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 6dc94a262b0429de20b8d291370edc1b484c2706d289f4098f302884def77953