The DBMS must notify appropriate individuals when accounts are modified.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-61799	O121-C2-020500	SV-76289r2_rule		Medium

Description
Once an attacker establishes initial access to a system, they often attempt to create a persistent method of re-establishing access. One way to accomplish this is for the attacker to modify an existing account for later use. Notification of account creation is one method and best practice for mitigating this risk. A comprehensive account management process will ensure an audit trail which documents the creation of application user accounts and notifies administrators and/or application owners that they exist. Such a process greatly reduces the risk that accounts will be surreptitiously created and provides logging that can be used for forensic purposes. Note that user authentication and account management must be done via an enterprise-wide mechanism whenever possible. Examples of enterprise-level authentication/access mechanisms include, but are not limited to, Active Directory and LDAP. This requirement applies to cases where accounts are directly managed by Oracle. Notwithstanding how accounts are normally managed, the DBMS must support the requirement to notify appropriate individuals upon account modification within Oracle. Indeed, in a configuration where accounts are managed externally, the manipulation of an account within Oracle may indicate hostile activity.

Description

Once an attacker establishes initial access to a system, they often attempt to create a persistent method of re-establishing access. One way to accomplish this is for the attacker to modify an existing account for later use. Notification of account creation is one method and best practice for mitigating this risk. A comprehensive account management process will ensure an audit trail which documents the creation of application user accounts and notifies administrators and/or application owners that they exist. Such a process greatly reduces the risk that accounts will be surreptitiously created and provides logging that can be used for forensic purposes. Note that user authentication and account management must be done via an enterprise-wide mechanism whenever possible. Examples of enterprise-level authentication/access mechanisms include, but are not limited to, Active Directory and LDAP. This requirement applies to cases where accounts are directly managed by Oracle. Notwithstanding how accounts are normally managed, the DBMS must support the requirement to notify appropriate individuals upon account modification within Oracle. Indeed, in a configuration where accounts are managed externally, the manipulation of an account within Oracle may indicate hostile activity.

STIG	Date
Oracle Database 12c Security Technical Implementation Guide	2020-06-12

Details

Check Text ( C-62677r1_chk )
Check DBMS settings to determine whether it will notify appropriate individuals when accounts are modified. If the DBMS does not notify appropriate individuals when accounts are modified, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-67715r1_fix)
Working with the DBA and site management, determine the appropriate individuals (by job role) to be notified. If Oracle Audit Vault is available, configure it to notify the appropriate individuals when accounts are modified. If Oracle Audit Vault is not available, configure the Oracle DBMS's auditing feature to record account-modification activity. If Standard Auditing is used: Create and deploy a mechanism, such as a frequently-run job, to monitor the SYS.AUD$ table for these records and notify the appropriate individuals. If unified Auditing is used: Create and deploy a mechanism, such as a frequently-run job, to monitor the SYS.UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL view for these records and notify the appropriate individuals.

Fix Text (F-67715r1_fix)

Working with the DBA and site management, determine the appropriate individuals (by job role) to be notified.

If Oracle Audit Vault is available, configure it to notify the appropriate individuals when accounts are modified.

If Oracle Audit Vault is not available, configure the Oracle DBMS's auditing feature to record account-modification activity.

If Standard Auditing is used:
Create and deploy a mechanism, such as a frequently-run job, to monitor the SYS.AUD$ table for these records and notify the appropriate individuals.

If unified Auditing is used:
Create and deploy a mechanism, such as a frequently-run job, to monitor the SYS.UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL view for these records and notify the appropriate individuals.