Fix audit log permissions using group-based access (development) #220
Conversation
This file contains hidden or bidirectional Unicode text that may be interpreted or compiled differently than what appears below. To review, open the file in an editor that reveals hidden Unicode characters.
Learn more about bidirectional Unicode characters
The ACL-based approach from #215/#219 failed because auditd ignores default ACLs when creating files. When auditd recreates the log file after rotation, it sets permissions to 0600 with no ACLs, blocking CloudWatch agent access. Solution: Use standard Unix group permissions instead of ACLs. - Set auditd log_group to 'adm' (cwagent is already in adm group) - Logrotate creates files with group 'adm' - Remove ACL scripts and related resources This is simpler and more reliable than ACLs since auditd respects log_group when creating files. Testing in development before rolling out to other environments.
infrahouse8
approved these changes
Dec 26, 2025
Sign up for free
to join this conversation on GitHub.
Already have an account?
Sign in to comment
2 participants
Add this suggestion to a batch that can be applied as a single commit.
This suggestion is invalid because no changes were made to the code.
Suggestions cannot be applied while the pull request is closed.
Suggestions cannot be applied while viewing a subset of changes.
Only one suggestion per line can be applied in a batch.
Add this suggestion to a batch that can be applied as a single commit.
Applying suggestions on deleted lines is not supported.
You must change the existing code in this line in order to create a valid suggestion.
Outdated suggestions cannot be applied.
This suggestion has been applied or marked resolved.
Suggestions cannot be applied from pending reviews.
Suggestions cannot be applied on multi-line comments.
Suggestions cannot be applied while the pull request is queued to merge.
Suggestion cannot be applied right now. Please check back later.
Summary
admgroup for audit logs instead of ACLsProblem
PR #215/#219 attempted to fix CloudWatch agent losing access to audit logs
after rotation using ACLs. However, auditd ignores default ACLs when creating
files - it always creates with mode 0600 and no inherited ACLs.
Solution
Use auditd's native
log_groupsetting:auditd.conf:log_group = admlogrotate:create 0640 root admadmgroup) reads via standard Unix permissionsThis works because auditd does respect
log_groupwhen creating files.Changes
auditd.pp: Defaultlog_file_groupchanged toadmauditd.conf.erb: Use variable forlog_group, keep rotation disabledlogrotate.erb: Removed ACL postrotate hookcloudwatch_agent.pp: Removed ACL package, scripts, and execset-audit-acl.sh.erbandcheck-audit-acl.sh.erbTest plan
auditd.confhaslog_group = admlogrotate -f /etc/logrotate.d/auditadmand mode 0640