The Apache web server must have system logging enabled.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-214231	SRG-APP-000516-WSR-000174	AS24-U1-000065	SV-214231r961863_rule	2024-12-04	3

Description
The server error logs are invaluable because they can also be used to identify potential problems and enable proactive remediation. Log data can reveal anomalous behavior such as “not found” or “unauthorized” errors that may be an evidence of attack attempts. Failure to enable error logging can significantly reduce the ability of Web Administrators to detect or remediate problems. The CustomLog directive specifies the log file, syslog facility, or piped logging utility.

Description

The server error logs are invaluable because they can also be used to identify potential problems and enable proactive remediation. Log data can reveal anomalous behavior such as “not found” or “unauthorized” errors that may be an evidence of attack attempts. Failure to enable error logging can significantly reduce the ability of Web Administrators to detect or remediate problems. The CustomLog directive specifies the log file, syslog facility, or piped logging utility.

ℹ️ Check
Determine the location of the "HTTPD_ROOT" directory and the "httpd.conf" file: # apachectl -V \| egrep -i 'httpd_root\|server_config_file' -D HTTPD_ROOT="/etc/httpd" -D SERVER_CONFIG_FILE="conf/httpd.conf" Note: The apachectl front end is the preferred method for locating the Apache httpd file. For some Linux distributions, "apache2ctl -V" or "httpd -V" can also be used. Search for the directive "CustomLog" in the "httpd.conf" file: # cat /<path_to_file>/httpd.conf \| grep -i "CustomLog" If the "CustomLog" directive is missing, this is a finding: An example CustomLog directive would be as follows: CustomLog "logs/access_log" common or CustomLog “log/access_log” combined (May also be "Logs/access_log")

ℹ️ Check

Determine the location of the "HTTPD_ROOT" directory and the "httpd.conf" file: # apachectl -V | egrep -i 'httpd_root|server_config_file' -D HTTPD_ROOT="/etc/httpd" -D SERVER_CONFIG_FILE="conf/httpd.conf" Note: The apachectl front end is the preferred method for locating the Apache httpd file. For some Linux distributions, "apache2ctl -V" or "httpd -V" can also be used. Search for the directive "CustomLog" in the "httpd.conf" file: # cat /<path_to_file>/httpd.conf | grep -i "CustomLog" If the "CustomLog" directive is missing, this is a finding: An example CustomLog directive would be as follows: CustomLog "logs/access_log" common or CustomLog “log/access_log” combined (May also be "Logs/access_log")

✔️ Fix
Edit the "httpd.conf" file and enter the name, path and level for the CustomLog.