UBTU-20-010416 - The Ubuntu operating system must generate error messages that provide information necessary for corrective actions without revealing information that could be exploited by adversaries.

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Information

Any operating system providing too much information in error messages risks compromising the data and security of the structure, and content of error messages needs to be carefully considered by the organization.

Organizations carefully consider the structure/content of error messages. The extent to which information systems are able to identify and handle error conditions is guided by organizational policy and operational requirements. Information that could be exploited by adversaries includes, for example, erroneous logon attempts with passwords entered by mistake as the username, mission/business information that can be derived from (if not stated explicitly by) information recorded, and personal information, such as account numbers, social security numbers, and credit card numbers.

Solution

Configure the Ubuntu operating system to set permissions of all log files under the '/var/log' directory to 640 or more restricted by using the following command:

$ sudo find /var/log -perm /137 -type f -exec chmod 640 '{}' ;

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_CAN_Ubuntu_20-04_LTS_V1R5_STIG.zip

Item Details

References: CAT|II, CCI|CCI-001312, Rule-ID|SV-238337r654186_rule, STIG-ID|UBTU-20-010416, Vuln-ID|V-238337

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: a1ac39d50dae431a60a95019b3f80642b0eedd11dbfc0b77b431c7cf30091ec3