STIGQter: STIG Summary: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security Technical Implementation Guide Version: 2 Release: 9 Benchmark Date: 01 Jul 2026:

RHEL 9 audit logs file must have mode 0600 or less permissive to prevent unauthorized access to the audit log.

DISA Rule

SV-258167r1155630_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-258167

Group Title

SRG-OS-000057-GPOS-00027

Rule Version

RHEL-09-653090

Severity

CAT II

CCI(s)

• CCI-000162 - Protect audit information from unauthorized access.
• CCI-000163 - Protect audit information from unauthorized modification.
• CCI-000164 - Protect audit information from unauthorized deletion.
• CCI-001314 - Reveal error messages only to organization-defined personnel or roles.

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

Configure the audit logs to have a mode of "0600" with the following command:

Replace "[audit_log_file]" with the path to each audit log file. By default, these logs are located in "/var/log/audit/.

$ sudo chmod 0600 /var/log/audit/[audit_log_file]

Check the group that owns the system audit logs:

$ sudo grep -iw log_group /etc/audit/auditd.conf

If log_group is set to a user other than root, configure the permissions the following way:

$ sudo chmod 0640 $log_file
$ sudo chmod 0440 $log_file.*

Otherwise, configure the permissions the following way:

$ sudo chmod 0600 $log_file
$ sudo chmod 0400 $log_file.*

Check Contents

Verify the audit logs have a mode of "0600".

Determine where the audit logs are stored with the following command:

$ sudo grep "^log_file" /etc/audit/auditd.conf

log_file = /var/log/audit/audit.log

Using the location of the audit log file, determine the mode of each audit log with the following command:

$ sudo find /var/log/audit/ -type f -exec stat -c '%a %n' {} \;

600 /var/log/audit/audit.log

If the audit logs have a mode more permissive than "0600", this is a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-258167

Documentable

False

Rule Version

RHEL-09-653090

Severity Override Guidance

Verify the audit logs have a mode of "0600".

Determine where the audit logs are stored with the following command:

$ sudo grep "^log_file" /etc/audit/auditd.conf

log_file = /var/log/audit/audit.log

Using the location of the audit log file, determine the mode of each audit log with the following command:

$ sudo find /var/log/audit/ -type f -exec stat -c '%a %n' {} \;

600 /var/log/audit/audit.log

If the audit logs have a mode more permissive than "0600", this is a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

5551