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 that the Ubuntu operating system configures the /var/log directory with a mode of "755" or less permissive.

Check the mode of the /var/log directory with the following command:

Note: If rsyslog is active and enabled on the operating system, this requirement is not applicable.

$ stat -c "%n %a" /var/log

/var/log 755

If a value of "755" or less permissive is not returned, this is a finding.

Fix

Configure the Ubuntu operating system to have permissions of "0755" for the /var/log directory by running the following command:

$ sudo chmod 0755 /var/log