Cron logging must be implemented in OL 8.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-248723	SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00227	OL08-00-030010	SV-248723r991589_rule	2025-02-20	2

Description
Cron logging can be used to trace the successful or unsuccessful execution of cron jobs. It can also be used to spot intrusions into the use of the cron facility by unauthorized and malicious users.

ℹ️ Check
Verify that "rsyslog" is configured to log cron events with the following command: Note: If another logging package is used, substitute the utility configuration file for "/etc/rsyslog.conf" or "/etc/rsyslog.d/.conf" files. $ sudo grep cron /etc/rsyslog.conf /etc/rsyslog.d/.conf cron.* /var/log/cron If the command does not return a response, check for cron logging all facilities by inspecting the "/etc/rsyslog.conf" or "/etc/rsyslog.d/.conf" files. Look for the following entry: .* /var/log/messages If "rsyslog" is not logging messages for the cron facility or all facilities, this is a finding.

ℹ️ Check

Verify that "rsyslog" is configured to log cron events with the following command: Note: If another logging package is used, substitute the utility configuration file for "/etc/rsyslog.conf" or "/etc/rsyslog.d/*.conf" files. $ sudo grep cron /etc/rsyslog.conf /etc/rsyslog.d/*.conf cron.* /var/log/cron If the command does not return a response, check for cron logging all facilities by inspecting the "/etc/rsyslog.conf" or "/etc/rsyslog.d/*.conf" files. Look for the following entry: *.* /var/log/messages If "rsyslog" is not logging messages for the cron facility or all facilities, this is a finding.

✔️ Fix
Configure "rsyslog" to log all cron messages by adding or updating the following line to "/etc/rsyslog.conf" or a configuration file in the "/etc/rsyslog.d/" directory: cron.* /var/log/cron The rsyslog daemon must be restarted for the changes to take effect: $ sudo systemctl restart rsyslog.service