4.1.7 Ensure login and logout events are collected - /var/log/faillog

Information

Monitor login and logout events. The parameters below track changes to files associated with login/logout events. The file /var/log/faillog tracks failed events from login. The file /var/log/lastlog maintain records of the last time a user successfully logged in. The file /var/log/tallylog maintains records of failures via the pam_tally2 module

Rationale:

Monitoring login/logout events could provide a system administrator with information associated with brute force attacks against user logins.

Solution

Edit or create a file in the /etc/audit/rules.d/ directory ending in .rules
Example: vi /etc/audit/rules.d/logins.rules
and add the following lines:

-w /var/log/faillog -p wa -k logins
-w /var/log/lastlog -p wa -k logins
-w /var/log/tallylog -p wa -k logins

Additional Information:

Reloading the auditd config to set active settings requires the auditd service to be restarted, and may require a system reboot.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/2971