Vulnerability Discussion

Only authorized personnel should be aware of errors and the details of the errors. Error messages are an indicator of an organization's operational state or can identify the operating system or platform. Additionally, Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and operational information must not be revealed through error messages to unauthorized personnel or their designated representatives.

The structure and content of error messages must be carefully considered by the organization and development team. The extent to which the information system is able to identify and handle error conditions is guided by organizational policy and operational requirements.

Check

Verify the Ubuntu operating system configures the /var/log directory to be owned by root.

Check that the /var/log directory is owned by root with the following command:

# sudo stat -c "%n %U" /var/log
/var/log root

If the /var/log directory is not owned by root, this is a finding.

Fix

Configure the Ubuntu operating system to have root own the /var/log directory by running the following command:

# sudo chown root /var/log