Vulnerability Discussion

When application accounts are removed, user accessibility is affected. Accounts are utilized for identifying users or for identifying the application processes themselves. Sending notification of account removal events to the system administrator (SA) and information system security officer (ISSO) is one method for mitigating this risk. Such a capability greatly reduces the risk that application accessibility will be negatively affected for extended periods of time and also provides logging that can be used for forensic purposes.

To address access requirements, many operating systems can be integrated with enterprise-level authentication/access/auditing mechanisms that meet or exceed access control policy requirements.

Check

If the Mainframe Product employs an external security manager for all account management functions, this is not applicable.

Examine account management settings.

If the Mainframe Product does not notify system programmers and security administrators of account removal actions, this is a finding.

Fix

Configure the Mainframe Product account management settings to notify system programmers and security administrators when there are account removal actions performed.