is it dangerous to change Windows Server 2008 EventLog security settings

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+1 Q:

is it dangerous to change Windows Server 2008 EventLog security settings

I have an ASP.NET application running on a Windows Server 2008 box with IIS 7. The application started on Windows Server 2003 with IIS 6.

When I changed servers I learned about how Microsoft changed the default settings for IIS 7 to be more secure. One of the changes was, the user account set as the identity for the Application Pool had to explicitly be given permission to read/write the Event Log.

My question is, if I give the local account (in this case NETWORK SERVICE) read/write ability on just the Application log inside of the event log, am I creating a security liability?

I can look at other methods for reporting on site conditions, but the Event Log was a nice way to do it back in the Windows Server 2003 days.

+1 A:

I personally don't see the problem with it. The Event Log is a perfect place to ... well.. log things.

Given the option to either grant write access on the Application log for NETWORK SERVICE, or change the local account your IIS site runs as to a more powerful user which as inherent rights to the event log, I would think granting access to NETWORK SERVICE would be a better approach.

We use the Event Log extensively in our web apps, but create a separate Log name for each application. This allows you to keep things tidy and grant very specific access.

KP 2010-02-17 20:02:04

I would agree that it is the better of your two options, but I could also set up a system to email ad admin when something happens that should be noted, and that would not take any account privilege changes. It would though take more coding, hence why if this isn't a real security problem I would prefer to just give the account access.Thanks!

Justin C 2010-02-17 20:49:13

Yeah I'd agree. We use both email and event logging, but I prefer there always to be an event log, in case any email issues occur where the issue cannot be sent. You're other option is to log to a text file within the site architecture (`~/Logs/mylog.txt` for example). In most cases no extra security privileges are required.

KP 2010-02-17 20:53:28

so all that said, why would the default setup change in IIS 7. I was assuming that the change was because there were potential security concerns with having an IIS account that has rights over the Event Log. I just can't seem to think about what the security risk is.

Justin C 2010-02-17 21:54:51

I agree. I don't really see the big security risk. I think MS is simply trying to be more proactive, and locking everything down better by default. Even though it takes a bit of work after the fact to 'open' things up, it allows you to make very specific changes only where needed. It's easier then to fine tune security to your needs, rather than having everything wide open by default, which seemed to be their old mantra...

KP 2010-02-18 14:13:58

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is it dangerous to change Windows Server 2008 EventLog security settings

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