STIGQter: STIG Summary: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide Version: 1 Release: 2 Benchmark Date: 01 Jul 2026:

RHEL 10 must enforce the audit log directory to have a mode of "0750" or less permissive to prevent unauthorized read access.

DISA Rule

SV-281055r1165520_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-281055

Group Title

SRG-OS-000057-GPOS-00027

Rule Version

RHEL-10-400190

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.

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

Configure RHEL 10 so that the audit log directories have a mode of "0750" or less permissive to prevent unauthorized read access with the following command:

$ sudo chmod 0700 /var/log/audit

Note: The correct permissions are "0700" if the directory is owned by "root"; otherwise, the correct permissions are "0750".

Restart the audit daemon with the following command for the changes to take effect:

$ sudo service auditd restart

Check Contents

Verify RHEL 10 enforces the audit log directory to have a mode of "0750" or less permissive to prevent unauthorized read access.

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

Find the group that owns audit logs:

$ sudo grep "^log_group" /etc/audit/auditd.conf
log_group = root

Run the following command to check the mode of the system audit logs:

$ sudo stat -c "%a %n" [audit_log_directory]

Replace "[audit_log_directory]" to the correct audit log directory path; by default this location is "/var/log/audit".

If the log_group is "root" or is not set, the correct permissions are "0700".

If the log_group is owned by anyone other than "root", the correct permissions are "0750".

If audit logs have a more permissive mode than is required, this is a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-281055

Documentable

False

Rule Version

RHEL-10-400190

Severity Override Guidance

Verify RHEL 10 enforces the audit log directory to have a mode of "0750" or less permissive to prevent unauthorized read access.

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

Find the group that owns audit logs:

$ sudo grep "^log_group" /etc/audit/auditd.conf
log_group = root

Run the following command to check the mode of the system audit logs:

$ sudo stat -c "%a %n" [audit_log_directory]

Replace "[audit_log_directory]" to the correct audit log directory path; by default this location is "/var/log/audit".

If the log_group is "root" or is not set, the correct permissions are "0700".

If the log_group is owned by anyone other than "root", the correct permissions are "0750".

If audit logs have a more permissive mode than is required, this is a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

5733