Ensure auditd Collects Information on the Use of Privileged Commands

Docs > Datadog Security > OOTB Rules > Ensure auditd Collects Information on the Use of Privileged Commands

Description

At a minimum, the audit system should collect the execution of privileged commands for all users and root. To find the relevant setuid / setgid programs, run the following command for each local partition PART:

$ sudo find PART -xdev -type f -perm -4000 -o -type f -perm -2000 2>/dev/null

If the auditd daemon is configured to use the augenrules program to read audit rules during daemon startup (the default), add a line of the following form to a file with suffix .rules in the directory /etc/audit/rules.d for each setuid / setgid program on the system, replacing the SETUID_PROG_PATH part with the full path of that setuid / setgid program in the list:

-a always,exit -F path=SETUID_PROG_PATH -F perm=x -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=4294967295 -F key=privileged

If the auditd daemon is configured to use the auditctl utility to read audit rules during daemon startup, add a line of the following form to /etc/audit/audit.rules for each setuid / setgid program on the system, replacing the SETUID_PROG_PATH part with the full path of that setuid / setgid program in the list:

-a always,exit -F path=SETUID_PROG_PATH -F perm=x -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=4294967295 -F key=privileged

Rationale

Misuse of privileged functions, either intentionally or unintentionally by authorized users, or by unauthorized external entities that have compromised system accounts, is a serious and ongoing concern and can have significant adverse impacts on organizations. Auditing the use of privileged functions is one way to detect such misuse and identify the risk from insider and advanced persistent threast.

Privileged programs are subject to escalation-of-privilege attacks, which attempt to subvert their normal role of providing some necessary but limited capability. As such, motivation exists to monitor these programs for unusual activity.

Remediation

Shell script

The following script can be run on the host to remediate the issue.

#!/bin/bash

# Perform the remediation for both possible tools: 'auditctl' and 'augenrules'
<ns10:sub idref="xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_value_function_perform_audit_rules_privileged_commands_remediation" use="legacy"/>
perform_audit_rules_privileged_commands_remediation "auditctl" "1000"
perform_audit_rules_privileged_commands_remediation "augenrules" "1000"

Ansible playbook

The following playbook can be run with Ansible to remediate the issue.

- name: Search for privileged commands
  shell: "find / -xdev -type f -perm -4000 -o -type f -perm -2000 2>/dev/null | cat"
  check_mode: no
  register: find_result
  tags:
    - audit_rules_privileged_commands
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(4)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-6(9)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.2.2
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1
    - DISA-STIG-RHEL-07-030360

# Inserts/replaces the rule in /etc/audit/rules.d

- name: Search /etc/audit/rules.d for audit rule entries
  find:
    paths: "/etc/audit/rules.d"
    recurse: no
    contains: "^.*path={{ item }} .*$"
    patterns: "*.rules"
  with_items:
    - "{{ find_result.stdout_lines }}"
  register: files_result
  tags:
    - audit_rules_privileged_commands
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(4)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-6(9)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.2.2
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1
    - DISA-STIG-RHEL-07-030360
  
- name: Overwrites the rule in rules.d
  lineinfile:
    path: "{{ item.1.path }}"
    line: '-a always,exit -F path={{ item.0.item }} -F perm=x -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=4294967295 -F key=privileged'
    create: no
    regexp: "^.*path={{ item.0.item }} .*$"
  with_subelements:
    - "{{ files_result.results }}"
    - files
  tags:
    - audit_rules_privileged_commands
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(4)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-6(9)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.2.2
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1
    - DISA-STIG-RHEL-07-030360
    
- name: Adds the rule in rules.d
  lineinfile:
    path: /etc/audit/rules.d/privileged.rules
    line: '-a always,exit -F path={{ item.item }} -F perm=x -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=4294967295 -F key=privileged'
    create: yes
  with_items:
    - "{{ files_result.results }}"
  when: item.matched == 0
  tags:
    - audit_rules_privileged_commands
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(4)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-6(9)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.2.2
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1
    - DISA-STIG-RHEL-07-030360
  
# Adds/overwrites the rule in /etc/audit/audit.rules

- name: Inserts/replaces the rule in audit.rules
  lineinfile:
    path: /etc/audit/audit.rules
    line: '-a always,exit -F path={{ item.item }} -F perm=x -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=4294967295 -F key=privileged'
    create: yes
    regexp: "^.*path={{ item.item }} .*$"
  with_items:
    - "{{ files_result.results }}"
  tags:
    - audit_rules_privileged_commands
    - medium_severity
    - restrict_strategy
    - low_complexity
    - low_disruption
    - NIST-800-53-AC-17(7)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-1(b)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(c)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(d)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-2(4)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-6(9)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(a)
    - NIST-800-53-AU-12(c)
    - NIST-800-53-IR-5
    - NIST-800-171-3.1.7
    - PCI-DSS-Req-10.2.2
    - CJIS-5.4.1.1
    - DISA-STIG-RHEL-07-030360

Warning

This rule checks for multiple syscalls related to privileged commands; it was written with DISA STIG in mind. Other policies should use a separate rule for each syscall that needs to be checked. For example:

audit_rules_privileged_commands_su
audit_rules_privileged_commands_umount
audit_rules_privileged_commands_passwd