cis-ubuntu2004-v300-6-3-3-4

DevOps & Security

Ensure events that modify date and time information are collected

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6.3.3.4 Ensure events that modify date and time information are collected (Automated)

Profile

Level 2 - Server
Level 2 - Workstation

Description

Capture events where the system date and/or time has been modified. The parameters in this section are set to determine if the;

adjtimex - tune kernel clock
settimeofday - set time using timeval and timezone structures
stime - using seconds since 1/1/1970
clock_settime - allows for the setting of several internal clocks and timers

system calls have been executed. Further, ensure to write an audit record to the configured audit log file upon exit, tagging the records with a unique identifier such as "time-change".

Rationale

Unexpected changes in system date and/or time could be a sign of malicious activity on the system.

Audit Procedure

Command Line

On disk configuration - Run the following command to check the on disk rules:

# {
awk '/^ *-a *always,exit/ \
&&/ -F *arch=b(32|64)/ \
&&/ -S/ \
&&(/adjtimex/ \
  ||/settimeofday/ \
  ||/clock_settime/ ) \
&&(/ key= *[!-~]* *$/||/ -k *[!-~]* *$/)' /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules

awk '/^ *-w/ \
&&/\/etc\/localtime/ \
&&/ +-p *wa/ \
&&(/ key= *[!-~]* *$/||/ -k *[!-~]* *$/)' /etc/audit/rules.d/*.rules
}

Verify output of matches:

-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S adjtimex,settimeofday -k time-change
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S adjtimex,settimeofday -k time-change
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S clock_settime -F a0=0x0 -k time-change
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S clock_settime -F a0=0x0 -k time-change
-w /etc/localtime -p wa -k time-change

Running configuration - Run the following command to check loaded rules:

# {
auditctl -l | awk '/^ *-a *always,exit/ \
&&/ -F *arch=b(32|64)/ \
&&/ -S/ \
&&(/adjtimex/ \
  ||/settimeofday/ \
  ||/clock_settime/ ) \
&&(/ key= *[!-~]* *$/||/ -k *[!-~]* *$/)'

auditctl -l | awk '/^ *-w/ \
&&/\/etc\/localtime/ \
&&/ +-p *wa/ \
&&(/ key= *[!-~]* *$/||/ -k *[!-~]* *$/)'
}

Verify the output includes:

-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S adjtimex,settimeofday -F key=time-change
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S settimeofday,adjtimex -F key=time-change
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S clock_settime -F a0=0x0 -F key=time-change
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S clock_settime -F a0=0x0 -F key=time-change
-w /etc/localtime -p wa -k time-change

Expected Result

Both on disk and running configuration should show time-change audit rules.

Remediation

Command Line

Create audit rules - Edit or create a file in the /etc/audit/rules.d/ directory, ending in .rules extension, with the relevant rules to monitor events that modify date and time information.

Example:

# printf "
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S adjtimex,settimeofday -k time-change
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S adjtimex,settimeofday -k time-change
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S clock_settime -F a0=0x0 -k time-change
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S clock_settime -F a0=0x0 -k time-change
-w /etc/localtime -p wa -k time-change
" >> /etc/audit/rules.d/50-time-change.rules

Load audit rules - Merge and load the rules into active configuration:

# augenrules --load

Check if reboot is required:

# if [[ $(auditctl -s | grep "enabled") =~ "2" ]]; then printf "Reboot required to load rules\n"; fi

References

NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5: AU-3, CM-6

CIS Controls

Controls Version	Control	IG 1	IG 2	IG 3
v8	8.5 Collect Detailed Audit Logs		X	X
v7	5.5 Implement Automated Configuration Monitoring Systems		X	X

MITRE ATT&CK Mappings: T1562, T1562.006 / TA0005 / M1047