Ensure detailed logging is enabled

MediumLevel 1Manual reviewnginx

Description

System logging must be configured to meet organizational security and privacy policies. Detailed logs provide the necessary context (event source, timestamp, user, network data) for incident response and forensic analysis. Modern logging strategies favor structured formats (JSON) over unstructured text to facilitate parsing by SIEM solutions. Note ... Manual review: the benchmark gives no reliable automated check for this control.

How it is checked

Audit method: Manual review

This recommendation cannot be checked automatically. A scan lists it with these instructions when you pass --include-manual.

1. Verify Log Format Configuration: Inspect the log_format directives in your configuration: nginx -T 2>/dev/null | grep -i "log_format" Evaluation: Confirm that a detailed format (preferably JSON) is defined. Verify that the format includes critical fields: $time_iso8601, $remote_addr, $remote_user, $request, $status, $http_user_agent. 2. Verify Access Log Usage: Check that the defined format is actually used by the access_log directive: nginx -T 2>/dev/null | grep "access_log" Evaluation ...

How it is fixed

Fix method: Guidance or infrastructure patch

Define a detailed log format in the http block of /etc/nginx/nginx.conf. It is highly recommended to use JSON format for compatibility with modern SIEM tools. Recommended Configuration (JSON): http { log_format main_access_json escape=json '{' '"timestamp": "$time_iso8601",' '"remote_addr": "$remote_addr",' '"remote_user": "$remote_user",' '"server_name": "$server_name",' '"request_method": "$request_method",' '"request_uri": "$request_uri",' '"status": $status,' '"body_bytes_sent": $body_bytes_sent,' '"http_referer": "$http_referer",' '"http_user_agent": "$http_user_agent",' '"x_forwarded_for": "$http_x_forwarded_for",' '"request_id": "$request_id"' '}'; # Apply the format globally or per server access_log /var/log/nginx/access.json main_access_json; } Legacy Configuration (Text-based): If JSON is not feasible, ensure the text format captures all necessary fields ...

Properties

Operating systems: Any
Tags: nginxlogging
Reference: CIS NGINX Benchmark v3.0.0 - 3.1 Ensure detailed logging is enabled