AUDIT.LOG(5) | File Formats Manual | AUDIT.LOG(5) |
audit
— Basic
Security Module (BSM) file format
The audit(4) subsystem has been deprecated since macOS 11.0, disabled since macOS 14.0, and WILL BE REMOVED in a future version of macOS. Applications that require a security event stream should use the EndpointSecurity(7) API instead.
On this version of macOS, you can re-enable audit(4) by renaming or copying /etc/security/audit_control.example to /etc/security/audit_control, re-enabling the system/com.apple.auditd service by running launchctl enable system/com.apple.auditd as root, and rebooting.
The audit
file format is based on Sun's
Basic Security Module (BSM) file format, a token-based record stream to
represent system audit data. This file format is both flexible and
extensible, able to describe a broad range of data types, and easily
extended to describe new data types in a moderately backward and forward
compatible way.
BSM token streams typically begin and end with a “file” token, which provides time stamp and file name information for the stream; when processing a BSM token stream from a stream as opposed to a single file source, file tokens may be seen at any point between ordinary records identifying when particular parts of the stream begin and end. All other tokens will appear in the context of a complete BSM audit record, which begins with a “header” token, and ends with a “trailer” token, which describe the audit record. Between these two tokens will appear a variety of data tokens, such as process information, file path names, IPC object information, MAC labels, socket information, and so on.
The BSM file format defines specific token orders for each record event type; however, some variation may occur depending on the operating system in use, what system options, such as mandatory access control, are present.
This manual page documents the common token types and their binary format, and is intended for reference purposes only. It is recommended that application programmers use the libbsm(3) interface to read and write tokens, rather than parsing or constructing records by hand.
The “file” token is used at the beginning and end of an audit log file to indicate when the audit log begins and ends. It includes a pathname so that, if concatenated together, original file boundaries are still observable, and gaps in the audit log can be identified. A “file” token can be created using au_to_file(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Seconds | 4 bytes | File time stamp |
Microseconds | 4 bytes | File time stamp |
File name lengh | 2 bytes | File name of audit trail |
File pathname | N bytes + 1 NUL | File name of audit trail |
The “header” token is used to mark the beginning of a complete audit record, and includes the length of the total record in bytes, a version number for the record layout, the event type and subtype, and the time at which the event occurred. A 32-bit “header” token can be created using au_to_header32(3); a 64-bit “header” token can be created using au_to_header64(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Record Byte Count | 4 bytes | Number of bytes in record |
Version Number | 2 bytes | Record version number |
Event Type | 2 bytes | Event type |
Event Modifier | 2 bytes | Event sub-type |
Seconds | 4/8 bytes | Record time stamp (32/64-bits) |
Nanoseconds | 4/8 bytes | Record time stamp (32/64-bits) |
The “expanded header” token is an expanded version of the “header” token, with the addition of a machine IPv4 or IPv6 address. A 32-bit extended “header” token can be created using au_to_header32_ex(3); a 64-bit extended “header” token can be created using au_to_header64_ex(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Record Byte Count | 4 bytes | Number of bytes in record |
Version Number | 2 bytes | Record version number |
Event Type | 2 bytes | Event type |
Event Modifier | 2 bytes | Event sub-type |
Address Type/Length | 1 byte | Host address type and length |
Machine Address | 4/16 bytes | IPv4 or IPv6 address |
Seconds | 4/8 bytes | Record time stamp (32/64-bits) |
Nanoseconds | 4/8 bytes | Record time stamp (32/64-bits) |
The “trailer” terminates a BSM audit record, and
contains a magic number, AUT_TRAILER_MAGIC
and
length that can be used to validate that the record was read properly. A
“trailer” token can be created using
au_to_trailer(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Trailer Magic | 2 bytes | Trailer magic number |
Record Byte Count | 4 bytes | Number of bytes in record |
The “identity” token contains information about the process that triggered the audit record to be created. An “identity” token can be created using au_to_identity(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token
ID |
1 byte | Token ID |
Signer
Type |
4 bytes | Code signing signer type |
Signing ID
Length |
2 bytes | Length of code signing identifier |
Signing
ID |
N bytes + 1 NUL | Code signing identifier |
Signing ID
Truncated |
1 byte | Whether or not the Signing ID field was truncated |
Team ID
Length |
2 bytes | Length of team identifier |
Team
ID |
N bytes + 1 NUL | Team identifier |
Team ID
Truncated |
1 byte | Whether or not the Team ID field was truncated |
CDHash Length |
2 bytes | Length of the CDHash |
CDHash |
N bytes | CDHash |
The “arbitrary data” token contains a byte stream of opaque (untyped) data. The size of the data is calculated as the size of each unit of data multipled by the number of units of data. A “How to print” field is present to specify how to print the data, but interpretation of that field is not currently defined. An “arbitrary data” token can be created using au_to_data(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
How to Print | 1 byte | User-defined printing information |
Basic Unit | 1 byte | Size of a unit in bytes |
Unit Count | 1 byte | Number of units of data present |
Data Items | Variable | User data |
The “in_addr” token holds a network byte order IPv4 address. An “in_addr” token can be created using au_to_in_addr(3) for an IPv4 address.
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
IP Address | 4 bytes | IPv4 address |
The “in_addr_ex” token holds a network byte order IPv4 or IPv6 address. An “in_addr_ex” token can be created using au_to_in_addr_ex(3) for an IPv6 address.
See the BUGS section for information on the storage of this token.
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
IP Address Type | 1 byte | Type of address |
IP Address | 4/16 bytes | IPv4 or IPv6 address |
The “ip” token contains an IP packet header in network byte order. An “ip” token can be created using au_to_ip(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Version and IHL | 1 byte | Version and IP header length |
Type of Service | 1 byte | IP TOS field |
Length | 2 bytes | IP packet length in network byte order |
ID | 2 bytes | IP header ID for reassembly |
Offset | 2 bytes | IP fragment offset and flags, network byte order |
TTL | 1 byte | IP Time-to-Live |
Protocol | 1 byte | IP protocol number |
Checksum | 2 bytes | IP header checksum, network byte order |
Source Address | 4 bytes | IPv4 source address |
Destination Address | 4 bytes | IPv4 destination address |
The “iport” token stores an IP port number in network byte order. An “iport” token can be created using au_to_iport(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Port Number | 2 bytes | Port number in network byte order |
The “path” token contains a pathname. A “path” token can be created using au_to_path(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Path Length | 2 bytes | Length of path in bytes |
Path | N bytes + 1 NUL | Path name |
The “path_attr” token contains a set of NUL-terminated path names. The libbsm(3) API cannot currently create a “path_attr” token.
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Count | 2 bytes | Number of NUL-terminated string(s) in token |
Path | Variable | count NUL-terminated string(s) |
The “process” token contains a description of the security properties of a process involved as the target of an auditable event, such as the destination for signal delivery. It should not be confused with the “subject” token, which describes the subject performing an auditable event. This includes both the traditional UNIX security properties, such as user IDs and group IDs, but also audit information such as the audit user ID and session. A “process” token can be created using au_to_process32(3) or au_to_process64(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Audit ID | 4 bytes | Audit user ID |
Effective User ID | 4 bytes | Effective user ID |
Effective Group ID | 4 bytes | Effective group ID |
Real User ID | 4 bytes | Real user ID |
Real Group ID | 4 bytes | Real group ID |
Process ID | 4 bytes | Process ID |
Session ID | 4 bytes | Audit session ID |
Terminal Port ID | 4/8 bytes | Terminal port ID (32/64-bits) |
Terminal Machine Address | 4 bytes | IP address of machine |
The “expanded process” token contains the contents of the “process” token, with the addition of a machine address type and variable length address storage capable of containing IPv6 addresses. An “expanded process” token can be created using au_to_process32_ex(3) or au_to_process64_ex(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Audit ID | 4 bytes | Audit user ID |
Effective User ID | 4 bytes | Effective user ID |
Effective Group ID | 4 bytes | Effective group ID |
Real User ID | 4 bytes | Real user ID |
Real Group ID | 4 bytes | Real group ID |
Process ID | 4 bytes | Process ID |
Session ID | 4 bytes | Audit session ID |
Terminal Port ID | 4/8 bytes | Terminal port ID (32/64-bits) |
Terminal Address Type/Length | 1 byte | Length of machine address |
Terminal Machine Address | 4 bytes | IPv4 or IPv6 address of machine |
The “return” token contains a system call or library
function return condition, including return value and error number
associated with the global variable errno
. A
“return” token can be created using
au_to_return32(3) or
au_to_return64(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Error Number | 1 byte | Errno value, or 0 if undefined |
Return Value | 4/8 bytes | Return value (32/64-bits) |
The “subject” token contains information on the subject performing the operation described by an audit record, and includes similar information to that found in the “process” and “expanded process” tokens. However, those tokens are used where the process being described is the target of the operation, not the authorizing party. A “subject” token can be created using au_to_subject32(3) and au_to_subject64(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Audit ID | 4 bytes | Audit user ID |
Effective User ID | 4 bytes | Effective user ID |
Effective Group ID | 4 bytes | Effective group ID |
Real User ID | 4 bytes | Real user ID |
Real Group ID | 4 bytes | Real group ID |
Process ID | 4 bytes | Process ID |
Session ID | 4 bytes | Audit session ID |
Terminal Port ID | 4/8 bytes | Terminal port ID (32/64-bits) |
Terminal Machine Address | 4 bytes | IP address of machine |
The “expanded subject” token consists of the same elements as the “subject” token, with the addition of type/length and variable size machine address information in the terminal ID. An “expanded subject” token can be created using au_to_subject32_ex(3) or au_to_subject64_ex(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Audit ID | 4 bytes | Audit user ID |
Effective User ID | 4 bytes | Effective user ID |
Effective Group ID | 4 bytes | Effective group ID |
Real User ID | 4 bytes | Real user ID |
Real Group ID | 4 bytes | Real group ID |
Process ID | 4 bytes | Process ID |
Session ID | 4 bytes | Audit session ID |
Terminal Port ID | 4/8 bytes | Terminal port ID (32/64-bits) |
Terminal Address Type/Length | 1 byte | Length of machine address |
Terminal Machine Address | 4 bytes | IPv4 or IPv6 address of machine |
The “System V IPC” token contains the System V IPC message handle, semaphore handle or shared memory handle. A System V IPC token may be created using +.Xr au_to_ipc 3 .
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Object ID type | 1 byte | Object ID |
Object ID | 4 bytes | Object ID |
The “text” token contains a single NUL-terminated text string. A “text” token may be created using au_to_text(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Text Length | 2 bytes | Length of text string including NUL |
Text | N bytes + 1 NUL | Text string including NUL |
The “attribute” token describes the attributes of a file associated with the audit event. As files may be identified by 0, 1, or many path names, a path name is not included with the attribute block for a file; optional “path” tokens may also be present in an audit record indicating which path, if any, was used to reach the object. An “attribute” token can be created using au_to_attr32(3) or au_to_attr64(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
File Access Mode | 1 byte | mode_t associated with file |
Owner User ID | 4 bytes | uid_t associated with file |
Owner Group ID | 4 bytes | gid_t associated with file |
File System ID | 4 bytes | fsid_t associated with file |
File System Node ID | 8 bytes | ino_t associated with file |
Device | 4/8 bytes | Device major/minor number (32/64-bit) |
The “groups” token contains a list of group IDs associated with the audit event. A “groups” token can be created using au_to_groups(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Number of Groups | 2 bytes | Number of groups in token |
Group List | N * 4 bytes | List of N group IDs |
The “System V IPC permission” token contains a System V IPC access permissions. A System V IPC permission token may be created using au_to_ipc_perm(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Owner user
ID |
4 bytes | User ID of IPC owner |
Owner group
ID |
4 bytes | Group ID of IPC owner |
Creator user
ID |
4 bytes | User ID of IPC creator |
Creator group
ID |
4 bytes | Group ID of IPC creator |
Access
mode |
4 bytes | Access mode |
Sequnce
number |
4 bytes | Sequnce number |
Key |
4 bytes | IPC key |
The “arg” token contains informations about arguments of the system call. Depending on the size of the desired argument value, an Arg token may be created using au_to_arg32(3) or au_to_arg64(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Argument
ID |
1 byte | Argument ID |
Argument
value |
4/8 bytes | Argument value |
Length |
2 bytes | Length of the text |
Text |
N bytes + 1 NUL | The string including nul |
The “exec_args” token contains informations about arguements of the exec() system call. An exec_args token may be created using au_to_exec_args(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Count |
4 bytes | Number of arguments |
Text |
* bytes | Count nul-terminated strings |
The “exec_env” token contains current eviroment variables to an exec() system call. An exec_args token may be created using au_to_exec_env(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Count ID |
4 bytes | Number of variables |
Text |
* bytes | Count nul-terminated strings |
The “exit” token contains process exit/return code information. An “exit” token can be created using au_to_exit(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Status | 4 bytes | Process status on exit |
Return Value | 4 bytes | Process return value on exit |
The “socket” token contains information about UNIX domain and Internet sockets. Each token has four or eight fields. Depending on the type of socket, a socket token may be created using au_to_sock_unix(3), au_to_sock_inet32(3) or au_to_sock_inet128(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token
ID |
1 byte | Token ID |
Socket
family |
2 bytes | Socket family |
Local
port |
2 bytes | Local port |
Socket
address |
4 bytes | Socket address |
The “expanded socket” token contains information about IPv4 and IPv6 sockets. A “expanded socket” token can be created using au_to_socket_ex(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token
ID |
1 byte | Token ID |
Socket
domain |
2 bytes | Socket domain |
Socket
type |
2 bytes | Socket type |
Address
type |
2 byte | Address type (IPv4/IPv6) |
Local
port |
2 bytes | Local port |
Local IP
address |
4/16 bytes | Local IP address |
Remote
port |
2 bytes | Remote port |
Remote IP
address |
4/16 bytes | Remote IP address |
The “seq” token contains a unique and monotonically increasing audit event sequence ID. Due to the limited range of 32 bits, serial number arithmetic and caution should be used when comparing sequence numbers.
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Sequence Number | 4 bytes | Audit event sequence number |
The “privilege” token ...
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
XXXXX |
The “use-of-auth” token ...
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
XXXXX |
The “command” token ...
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
XXXXX |
The “ACL” token ...
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
XXXXX |
The “zonename” token holds a NUL-terminated string with the name of the zone or jail from which the record originated. A token can be created using au_to_zonename(3).
Field | Bytes | Description |
Token ID | 1 byte | Token ID |
Zonename length | 2 bytes | Length of zonename string including NUL |
Zonename | N bytes + 1 NUL | Zonename string including NUL |
auditreduce(1), praudit(1), libbsm(3), audit(4), auditpipe(4), audit(8)
The OpenBSM implementation was created by McAfee Research, the security division of McAfee Inc., under contract to Apple Computer Inc. in 2004. It was subsequently adopted by the TrustedBSD Project as the foundation for the OpenBSM distribution.
The Basic Security Module (BSM) interface to audit records and audit event stream format were defined by Sun Microsystems.
This manual page was written by Robert Watson ⟨rwatson@FreeBSD.org⟩.
The “How to print” field in the “arbitrary data” token has undefined values.
The “in_addr” and “in_addr_ex” token layout documented here appears to be in conflict with the libbsm(3) implementation of au_to_in_addr_ex(3).
November 5, 2006 | macOS 14.6 |