1. Security Guide
  2. Monitoring Database Activity with Auditing
  3. Creating Custom Unified Audit Policies

31 Creating Custom Unified Audit Policies

Oracle Database provides the flexibility to create and manage custom unified audit policies for your specialized needs.

31.1 About Custom Unified Audit Policies

You can create custom unified audit policies for specialized needs that are typically not met with predefined unified audit policies.

For example, you may have the following audit requirements:

  • Audit access to the database from untrusted database connection paths.
  • Audit access to specific sensitive database objects.
  • Audit use of certain system privileges.

To create the unified audit policy, you use the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement. The AUDIT and NOAUDIT SQL statements enable and disable audit policies respectively. The AUDIT statement also lets you include or exclude specific users for the policy.

You can have more than one custom unified audit policy effective at any given time. An audit policy can contain both system-wide and object-specific audit options. To find system actions to audit, you can query the AUDITABLE_SYSTEM_ACTIONS system table.

31.2 Best Practices for Creating Custom Unified Audit Policies

You can optimize the number of enabled policies as a best practice though you can enable multiple policies at a time in the database.

This optimization has the following benefits:

  • It reduces the logon overhead that is associated with loading the audit policy's details into the session's UGA memory. If the enabled policy count is less, then less time is spent in loading the policy information.

  • It makes the internal audit check functionality more efficient, which determines whether to generate an audit record for its associated event.

  • If you have configured a unified audit policy for LOGON statements, then audit records for both direct logins as well as ALTER SESSION and SET CONTAINER statements are generated.

The unified audit policy syntax is designed to group multiple audit settings in a single policy. Refer to predefined audit policies of Oracle Database to see how multiple audit settings are grouped within one unified audit policy.

Related Topics

31.3 Syntax for Creating a Custom Unified Audit Policy

To create a custom unified audit policy, you must use the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement.

When you create a unified audit policy, Oracle Database stores it in a first class object that is owned by the SYS schema, not in the schema of the user who created the policy.

Example 31-1 shows the syntax for the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement.

Example 31-1 Syntax for the CREATE AUDIT POLICY Statement

CREATE AUDIT POLICY policy_name
    { {privilege_audit_clause [action_audit_clause ] [role_audit_clause ]}
        | { action_audit_clause  [role_audit_clause ] } 
        | { role_audit_clause }
     }        
    [WHEN audit_condition EVALUATE PER {STATEMENT|SESSION|INSTANCE}] 
    [ONLY TOPLEVEL]
    [CONTAINER = {CURRENT | ALL}];

In this specification:

  • privilege_audit_clause describes privilege-related audit options. The detailed syntax for configuring privilege audit options is as follows: 

    privilege_audit_clause  :=  PRIVILEGES  privilege1 [, privilege2]

  • action_audit_clause and standard_actions describe object action-related audit options. The syntax is as follows: 

    action_audit_clause := {standard_actions | component_actions}
                                         [, component_actions ]
standard_actions :=
     ACTIONS action1 [ ON {schema.obj_name
                                          | DIRECTORY directory_name
                                          | MINING MODEL schema.obj_name
                                           }
                ]                                     
           [, action2 [ ON {schema.obj_name
                                          | DIRECTORY directory_name
                                          | MINING MODEL schema.obj_name  
                   }
                ]

  • component_actions enables you to create an audit policy for Oracle Label Security, Oracle Database Real Application Security, Oracle Database Vault, Oracle Data Pump, or Oracle SQL*Loader. The syntax is: 

    component_actions :=
     ACTIONS COMPONENT=[OLS|XS] action1 [,action2 ] |
     ACTIONS COMPONENT=DV DV_action ON DV_object_name |
     ACTIONS COMPONENT=DATAPUMP [ EXPORT | IMPORT | ALL ] |
     ACTIONS COMPONENT=DIRECT_LOAD [ LOAD | ALL ] |
     ACTIONS COMPONENT=PROTOCOL [ HTTP | FTP ] |
     ACTIONS COMPONENT=SQL_FIREWALL [SQL VIOLATION | CONTEXT VIOLATION | ALL]

  • role_audit_clause enables you to audit roles. The syntax is: 

    role_audit_clause := ROLES role1 [, role2]

  • WHEN audit_condition EVALUATE PER enables you to specify a function to create a condition for the audit policy and the evaluation frequency. You must include the EVALUATE PER clause with the WHEN condition. The syntax is: 

    WHEN 'audit_condition := function operation value_list'
EVALUATE PER {STATEMENT|SESSION|INSTANCE}
  • ONLY TOPLEVEL allows users to audit only the top-level operations that are performed for the actions that were configured as part of this audit policy.

  • CONTAINER, allows users to audit only the top-level operations that were performed for the actions that were configured as part of this audit policy.

This syntax is designed to audit any of the components listed in the policy. For example, suppose you create the following policy:

CREATE AUDIT POLICY table_pol
PRIVILEGES CREATE ANY TABLE, DROP ANY TABLE
ROLES emp_admin, sales_admin;

The audit trail will capture SQL statements that require the CREATE ANY TABLE system privilege or the DROP ANY TABLE system privilege or any system privilege directly granted to the role emp_admin or any system privilege directly granted to the role sales_admin.

After you create the policy, you must enable it by using the AUDIT statement. Optionally, you can apply the policy to one or more users, exclude one or more users from the policy, and designate whether an audit record is written when the audited action succeeds, fails, or both succeeds or fails.

Related Topics

31.4 Auditing Standard Oracle Database Components

You can create unified audit policies to monitor components such as roles, system privileges, administrative users, and actions performed on objects such as tables.

31.4.1 Auditing Roles

You can use the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement to audit database roles.

31.4.1.1 About Role Auditing

Role auditing audits all system privileges that have been assigned directly (or indirectly) to the role if that system privilege is used. This type of auditing does not audit the use of privileges apart from system privileges.

You can audit any role, including user-defined roles. If you create a common unified audit policy for roles with the ROLES audit option, then you must specify only common roles in the role list. When such a policy is enabled, Oracle Database audits all system privileges that are commonly and directly granted to the common role. The system privileges that are locally granted to the common role will not be audited. To find if a role was commonly granted, query the DBA_ROLES data dictionary view. To find if the privileges granted to the role were commonly granted, query the ROLE_SYS_PRIVS view.

Note:

Role auditing will audit all the system privileges that are assigned directly (or indirectly) to the role if a user uses that system privilege.
31.4.1.2 Configuring Role Unified Audit Policies

To create a unified audit policy to capture role use, you must include the ROLES clause in the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement.

  • Use the following syntax to create a unified audit policy that audits roles: 

    CREATE AUDIT POLICY policy_name 
 ROLES role1 [, role2];

For example: 

CREATE AUDIT POLICY audit_roles_pol 
 ROLES IMP_FULL_DATABASE, EXP_FULL_DATABASE;

You can build more complex role unified audit policies, such as those that include conditions. Remember that after you create the policy, you must use the AUDIT statement to enable it.

31.4.1.3 Example: Auditing the Predefined Common DBA Role

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit roles in both the root and in PDBs.

The following example shows how to audit a predefined common role DBA.

Example 31-2 Auditing the Predefined Common DBA Role

CREATE AUDIT POLICY role_dba_audit_pol 
 ROLES DBA
 CONTAINER = ALL;

AUDIT POLICY role_dba_audit_pol;

31.4.2 Auditing System Privileges

You can use the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement to audit system privileges.

31.4.2.1 About System Privilege Auditing

System privilege auditing audits activities that successfully use a system privilege, such as READ ANY TABLE.

A single unified audit policy can contain both privilege and action audit options. Do not audit the privilege use of administrative users such as SYS. Instead, audit their object actions.

Note:

Use privilege analysis in the Oracle database to find the system privileges which are used and unused..

31.4.2.2 System Privileges That Can Be Audited

To find a list of auditable system privileges, you can query the SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_MAP table.

For example: 

SELECT NAME FROM SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_MAP;

NAME
-------------
ALTER ANY CUBE BUILD PROCESS
SELECT ANY CUBE BUILD PROCESS
ALTER ANY MEASURE FOLDER
...

Similar to action audit options, privilege auditing audits the use of system privileges that have been granted to database users. If you set similar audit options for both SQL statement and privilege auditing, then only a single audit record is generated. For example, if two policies exist, with one auditing EXECUTE PROCEDURE specifically on the HR.PROC procedure and the second auditing EXECUTE PROCEDURE in general (all procedures), then only one audit record is written.

Privilege auditing does not occur if the action is already permitted by the existing owner and object privileges. Privilege auditing is triggered only if the privileges are insufficient, that is, only if what makes the action possible is a system privilege. For example, suppose that user SCOTT has been granted the SELECT ANY TABLE privilege and SELECT ANY TABLE is being audited. If SCOTT selects his own table (for example, SCOTT.EMP), then the SELECT ANY TABLE privilege is not used. Because SCOTT performed the SELECT statement within his own schema, no audit record is generated. On the other hand, if SCOTT selects from another schema (for example, the HR.EMPLOYEES table), then an audit record is generated. Because SCOTT selected a table outside his own schema, he needed to use the SELECT ANY TABLE privilege.

31.4.2.3 System Privileges That Cannot Be Audited

A few system privileges cannot be audited.

These privileges are:

  • INHERIT ANY PRIVILEGE

  • INHERIT PRIVILEGE

  • TRANSLATE ANY SQL

  • TRANSLATE SQL

31.4.2.4 Configuring a Unified Audit Policy to Capture System Privilege Use

The PRIVILEGES clause in the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement audits system privilege use.

  • Use the following syntax to create a unified audit policy that audits privileges: 

    CREATE AUDIT POLICY policy_name 
 PRIVILEGES privilege1 [, privilege2];

    For example: 

    CREATE AUDIT POLICY my_simple_priv_policy
 PRIVILEGES SELECT ANY TABLE, CREATE LIBRARY;

You can build more complex privilege unified audit policies, such as those that include conditions. Remember that after you create the policy, you must use the AUDIT statement to enable it.

31.4.2.5 Example: Auditing a User Who Has ANY Privileges

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit users for ANY privileges.

Example 31-3 shows how to audit several ANY privileges of the user HR_MGR.

Example 31-3 Auditing a User Who Has ANY Privileges

CREATE AUDIT POLICY hr_mgr_audit_pol
 PRIVILEGES DROP ANY TABLE, DROP ANY CONTEXT, DROP ANY INDEX, DROP ANY LIBRARY;

AUDIT POLICY hr_mgr_audit_pol BY HR_MGR;
31.4.2.6 Example: Using a Condition to Audit a System Privilege

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can create an audit policy that uses a condition to audit a system privilege.

Example 31-4 shows how to use a condition to audit privileges that are used by two operating system users, psmith and jrawlins.

Example 31-4 Using a Condition to Audit a System Privilege

CREATE AUDIT POLICY os_users_priv_pol
 PRIVILEGES SELECT ANY TABLE, CREATE LIBRARY
 WHEN 'SYS_CONTEXT (''USERENV'', ''OS_USER'') IN (''psmith'', ''jrawlins'')'
 EVALUATE PER SESSION;

AUDIT POLICY os_users_priv_pol;
31.4.2.7 How System Privilege Unified Audit Policies Appear in the Audit Trail

The UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view lists system privilege audit events.

The following example shows a list of privileges used by the operating system user psmith. 

SELECT SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_USED FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL 
 WHERE OS_USERNAME = 'PSMITH' AND UNIFIED_AUDIT_POLICIES = 'OS_USERS_PRIV_POL';

SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_USED
----------------------
SELECT ANY TABLE
DROP ANY TABLE

Note:

If you have created an audit policy for the SELECT ANY TABLE system privilege, whether the user has exercised the READ object privilege or the SELECT object privilege will affect the actions that the audit trail captures.

31.4.3 Auditing Administrative Users

You can create unified audit policies to capture the actions of administrative user accounts, such as SYS.

31.4.3.1 Administrative User Accounts That Can Be Audited

Oracle Database provides administrative user accounts that are associated with administrative privileges.

Table 31-1 lists default administrative user accounts and the administrative privileges with which they are typically associated.

Table 31-1 Administrative Users and Administrative Privileges

Administrative User Account Administrative Privilege

SYS

SYSDBA

PUBLICFoot 1

SYSOPER

SYSASM

SYSASM

SYSBACKUP

SYSBACKUP

SYSDG

SYSDG

SYSKM

SYSKM

Footnote 1

PUBLIC refers to the user PUBLIC, which is the effective user when you log in with the SYSOPER administrative privilege. It does not refer to the PUBLIC role.

31.4.3.2 Configuring a Unified Audit Policy to Capture Administrator Activities

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit administrative users.

  • To audit administrative users, create a unified audit policy and then apply this policy to the user, the same as you would for non-administrative users. Note that top-level statements by administrative users are mandatorily audited until the database opens.

31.4.3.3 Example: Auditing the SYS User

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit the SYS user.

Example 31-5 shows how to audit grants of the DBMS_FGA PL/SQL package by user SYS.

Example 31-5 Auditing the SYS User

CREATE AUDIT POLICY dbms_fga_grants 
 ACTIONS GRANT
 ON DBMS_FGA;

AUDIT POLICY dbms_fga_grants BY SYS;

31.4.4 Auditing Object Actions

You can use the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement to audit object actions.

31.4.4.1 About Auditing Object Actions

You can audit actions performed on specific objects, such as UPDATE statements on the HR.EMPLOYEES table.

The audit can include both DDL and DML statements that were used on the object. A single unified audit policy can contain both privilege and action audit options, as well as audit options set for multiple objects.

For tables that contain sensitive information, Oracle recommends that you include the ACTIONS ALL clause in the unified audit policy so that the audit record will capture indirect SELECT operations.

31.4.4.2 Object Actions That Can Be Audited

Auditing object actions can be broad or focused (for example, auditing all user actions or only a select list of user actions).

Table 31-2 lists the object-level standard database action options. Audit policies for the SELECT SQL statement will capture READ actions as well as SELECT actions.

Table 31-2 Object-Level Standard Database Action Audit Option

Object SQL Action That Can Be Audited

Directory

AUDIT, GRANT, READ

Function

AUDIT, EXECUTE, GRANT

Java schema objects (source, class, resource)

AUDIT, EXECUTE, GRANT

Library

EXECUTE, GRANT

Materialized views

ALTER, AUDIT, COMMENT, DELETE, INDEX, INSERT, LOCK, SELECT, UPDATE

Mining Model

AUDIT, COMMENT, GRANT, RENAME, SELECT

Object type

ALTER, AUDIT, GRANT

Package

AUDIT, EXECUTE, GRANT

Procedure (including triggers)

AUDIT, EXECUTE, GRANT

Sequence

ALTER, AUDIT, GRANT, SELECT

Table

ALTER, AUDIT, COMMENT, DELETE, FLASHBACK, GRANT, INDEX, INSERT, LOCK, MERGE, RENAME, SELECT, UPDATE

Table or view column

ALL, ALTER, AUDIT, COMMENT, DELETE, GRANT, INDEX, INSERT, SELECT, UPDATE

View

AUDIT, COMMENT, DELETE, FLASHBACK, GRANT, INSERT, LOCK, MERGE, RENAME, SELECT, UPDATE
31.4.4.3 Guidelines for Column Level Auditing and Virtual Columns

When you create unified audit policies for columns, you should be aware of guidelines for handling virtual columns.

  • An audit record is not be generated if an audit policy is defined on a virtual column and the base column is updated, causing an update to the virtual column.

    For example, suppose a table has a column col1 and a virtual column c_vir. Depending on the value of col1, a column level audit policy defined on c_vir for action update will not generate an audit record when col1 is updated, causing an update to c_vir. The same behavior is true for INSERT operation.

  • If the value of a column is accessed through a virtual column, then an audit record is generated.

    For example, suppose a table has a column col1 and a virtual column c_vir. Depending on the value of col1, a column level unified audit policy is defined on col1. In this case, accessing c_vir generates a unified audit record.

31.4.4.4 Configuring an Object Action Unified Audit Policy

The ACTIONS clause in the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement creates a policy that captures object actions.

  • Use the following syntax to create a unified audit policy that audits object actions: 

    CREATE AUDIT POLICY policy_name 
 ACTIONS action1 [, action2 ON object1] [, action3 ON object2];

For example: 

CREATE AUDIT POLICY my_simple_obj_policy
 ACTIONS SELECT ON OE.ORDERS, UPDATE ON HR.EMPLOYEES;

Note that you can audit multiple actions on multiple objects, as shown in this example.

You can build complex object action unified audit policies, such as those that include conditions. Remember that after you create the policy, you must use the AUDIT statement to enable it.

31.4.4.5 Example: Auditing Actions on SYS Objects

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit actions on SYS objects.

Example 31-6 shows how to create an audit policy that audits SELECT statements on the SYS.USER$ system table. The audit policy applies to all users, including SYS and SYSTEM.

Example 31-6 Auditing Actions on SYS Objects

CREATE AUDIT POLICY select_user_dictionary_table_pol ACTIONS SELECT ON SYS.USER$;

AUDIT POLICY select_user_dictionary_table_pol;
31.4.4.6 Example: Auditing Multiple Actions on One Object

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit multiple actions on one object.

Example 31-7 shows how to audit multiple SQL statements performed by users jrandolph and phawkins on the app_lib library.

Example 31-7 Auditing Multiple Actions on One Object

CREATE AUDIT POLICY actions_on_hr_emp_pol1
 ACTIONS EXECUTE, GRANT 
 ON app_lib;

AUDIT POLICY actions_on_hr_emp_pol1 BY jrandolph, phawkins;
31.4.4.7 Example: Auditing GRANT and REVOKE Operations on an Object

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit GRANT and REVOKE operations on objects, such as tables.

Enabling auditing on GRANT operations on an object automatically enables the audit of REVOKE operations on the object as well.

Example 31-8 Auditing GRANT and REVOKE Operations

CREATE AUDIT POLICY grant_revoke_pol
ACTIONS GRANT ON HR.EMPLOYEES;

AUDIT POLICY grant_revoke_pol;

The UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL view captures the relevant information for a grant operation as shown in the following query. The grantee name (to whom the privilege is granted) is recorded in the TARGET_USER column. 

SELECT DBUSERNAME, OBJECT_PRIVILEGES, ACTION_NAME, OBJECT_SCHEMA, OBJECT_NAME, TARGET_USER 
FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL 
WHERE ACTION_NAME IN ('GRANT', 'REVOKE');
31.4.4.8 Example: Auditing Both Actions and Privileges on an Object

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit both actions and privileges on an object, using a single policy.

Example 31-9 shows how all EXECUTE and GRANT statements on the app_lib library using the CREATE LIBRARY privilege are audited.

Example 31-9 Auditing Both Actions and Privileges on an Object

CREATE AUDIT POLICY actions_on_hr_emp_pol2 
 PRIVILEGES CREATE LIBRARY
 ACTIONS EXECUTE, GRANT
 ON app_lib;

AUDIT POLICY actions_on_hr_emp_pol2 BY jrandolph, phawkins;

You can audit directory objects. For example, suppose you create a directory object that contains a preprocessor program that the ORACLE_LOADER access driver will use. You can audit anyone who runs this program within this directory object.

31.4.4.9 Example: Auditing an Action on a Table Column

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit actions on table or view columns.

Example 31-10 shows how to create an audit policy that audits SELECT statements on the SALARY column of the HR.EMPLOYEES table.

Example 31-10 Auditing Actions on a Table Column

CREATE AUDIT POLICY emp_hr_emp_sal_access_pol 
 ACTIONS SELECT(SALARY) ON HR.EMPLOYEES;

AUDIT POLICY emp_hr_emp_sal_access_pol;
31.4.4.10 Example: Auditing All Actions on a Table

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit all actions on a table.

You can use the ALL keyword to audit all actions. Oracle recommends that you audit all actions only on sensitive objects. ALL is useful in that it captures indirect SELECT operations. Example 31-11 shows how to audit all actions on the HR.EMPLOYEES table, except actions by user pmulligan.

Example 31-11 Auditing All Actions on a Table

CREATE AUDIT POLICY all_actions_on_hr_emp_pol 
 ACTIONS ALL ON HR.EMPLOYEES;

AUDIT POLICY all_actions_on_hr_emp_pol EXCEPT pmulligan;
31.4.4.11 Example: Auditing All Actions in the Database

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit all actions in the database.

Ensure that you include the ONLY TOPLEVEL clause to audit only the top-level user initiated actions. Consider adding conditions when you use the ACTIONS ALL clause to further reduce the audit volume.

Note:

Use ACTIONS ALL auditing with caution. Do not enable it for users who must perform online transaction processing (OLTP) workloads. This will avoid generating a large number of audit records.

Example 31-12 shows how to audit all actions in the entire database.

Example 31-12 Auditing All Actions in the Database

CREATE AUDIT POLICY all_actions_pol ACTIONS ALL ONLY TOPLEVEL;

AUDIT POLICY all_actions_pol;
31.4.4.12 How Object Action Unified Audit Policies Appear in the Audit Trail

The UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view lists object action audit events.

For example:

SELECT ACTION_NAME, OBJECT_SCHEMA, OBJECT_NAME FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL 
WHERE DBUSERNAME = 'SYS';

ACTION_NAME OBJECT_SCHEMA OBJECT_NAME
----------- ------------- ------------
SELECT      HR            EMPLOYEES
31.4.4.13 Auditing Functions, Procedures, Packages, and Triggers

You can audit functions, procedures, PL/SQL packages, and triggers.

Points to consider:

  • You can individually audit standalone functions, standalone procedures, and PL/SQL packages.

  • If you audit a PL/SQL package, Oracle Database audits all functions and procedures within the package.

  • If you enable auditing for all executions, Oracle Database audits all triggers in the database, as well as all the functions and procedures within PL/SQL packages.

  • You cannot audit individual functions or procedures within a PL/SQL package.

  • When you audit the EXECUTE operation on a PL/SQL stored procedure or stored function, the database considers only its ability to find the procedure or function and authorize its execution when determining the success or failure of the operation for the purposes of auditing. Therefore, if you specify the WHENEVER NOT SUCCESSFUL clause, then only invalid object errors, non-existent object errors, and authorization failures are audited; errors encountered during the execution of the procedure or function are not audited. If you specify the WHENEVER SUCCESSFUL clause, then all executions that are not blocked by invalid object errors, non-existent object errors, or authorization failures are audited, regardless of whether errors are encountered during execution.

31.4.4.14 Auditing of Oracle Virtual Private Database Predicates

The unified audit trail automatically captures the predicates that are used in Oracle Virtual Private Database (VPD) policies.

You do not need to create a unified audit policy to capture the VPD predicate audit information.

This type of audit enables you to identify the predicate expression that was run as part of a DML operation and thereby help you to identify other actions that may have occurred as part of the DML operation. For example, if a malicious attack on your database is performed using a VPD predicate, then you can track the attack by using the unified audit trail. In addition to predicates from user-created VPD policies, the internal predicates from Oracle Label Security and Oracle Real Application Security policies are captured as well. For example, Oracle Label Security internally creates a VPD policy while applying an OLS policy to a table. Oracle Real Application Security generates a VPD policy while enabling an Oracle RAS policy.

The unified audit trail writes this predicate information to the RLS_INFO column of the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view. If you have fine-grained audit policies, then the RLS_INFO column of these views captures VPD predicate information as well.

The audit trail can capture the predicates and their corresponding policy names if multiple VPD policies are enforced on the object. The audit trail captures the policy schema and policy name to enable you to differentiate predicates that are generated from different policies. By default, this information is concatenated in the RLS_INFO column, but Oracle Database provides a function in the DBMS_AUDIT_UTIL PL/SQL package that enables you to reformat the results in an easy-to-read format.

The following example shows how you can audit the predicates of a VPD policy:

  1. Create the following VPD policy function:

    CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION auth_orders( 
  schema_var IN VARCHAR2,
  table_var  IN VARCHAR2
 )
 RETURN VARCHAR2
 IS
  return_val VARCHAR2 (400);
 BEGIN
  return_val := 'SALES_REP_ID = 159';
  RETURN return_val;
 END auth_orders;
/

  2. Create the following VPD policy:

    BEGIN
  DBMS_RLS.ADD_POLICY (
    object_schema    => 'oe',
    object_name      => 'orders',
    policy_name      => 'orders_policy',
    function_schema  => 'sec_admin',
    policy_function  => 'auth_orders',
    statement_types  => 'select, insert, update, delete'
   );
 END;
/

  3. Create and enable the following the unified audit policy:

    CREATE AUDIT POLICY oe_pol 
 ACTIONS SELECT ON OE.ORDERS;

AUDIT POLICY oe_pol;

  4. Connect as user OE and query the OE.ORDERS table. 

    CONNECT OE@pdb_name
Enter password: password

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM ORDERS;

  5. Connect as a user who has been granted the AUDIT_ADMIN role, and then query the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view. 

    CONNECT sec_admin@pdb_name
Enter password: password

SELECT RLS_INFO FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL;

    Output similar to the following should appear:

    ((POLICY_TYPE=[3]'VPD'),(POLICY_SCHEMA=[9]'SEC_ADMIN'),(POLICY_NAME=[13]'ORDERS_POLICY'),(PREDICATE=[16]'SALES_REP_ID=159'));

  6. To extract these details and add them to their own columns, run the appropriate function from the DBMS_AUDIT_UTIL PL/SQL package.

    For unified auditing, you must run the DBMS_AUDIT_UTIL.DECODE_RLS_INFO_ATRAIL_UNI function.

    For example:

    SELECT DBUSERNAME, ACTION_NAME, OBJECT_NAME, SQL_TEXT, 
  RLS_PREDICATE, RLS_POLICY_TYPE, RLS_POLICY_OWNER, RLS_POLICY_NAME 
  FROM TABLE (DBMS_AUDIT_UTIL.DECODE_RLS_INFO_ATRAIL_UNI 
  (CURSOR (SELECT * FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL)));

    The reformatted audit trail output appears similar to the following: 

    DBUSERNAME ACTION_NAME OBJECT_NAME SQL_TEXT
---------- ----------- ----------- ---------------------------
RLS_PREDICATE       RLS_POLICY_TYPE RLS_POLICY_OWNER RLS_POLICY_NAME
------------------ ---------------  ---------------- ---------------
OE         SELECT      ORDERS      SELECT COUNT(*) FROM ORDERS 
SALES_REP_ID = 159  VPD             SEC_ADMIN        ORDERS_POLICY
31.4.4.15 Audit Policies for Oracle Virtual Private Database Policy Functions

Auditing can affect dynamic VPD policies, static VPD policies, and context-sensitive VPD policies.

  • Dynamic policies: Oracle Database evaluates the policy function twice, once during SQL statement parsing and again during execution. As a result, two audit records are generated for each evaluation.

  • Static policies: Oracle Database evaluates the policy function once and then caches it in the SGA. As a result, only one audit record is generated.

  • Context-sensitive policies: Oracle Database executes the policy function once, during statement parsing. As a result, only one audit record is generated.

31.4.4.16 Unified Auditing with Editioned Objects

An audit policy created to audit an action on an editioned object will be applied to all its editions.

In addition, newly created objects in an edition will inherit unified audit policies from the existing edition.

You can find the editions in which audited objects appear by querying the OBJECT_NAME and OBJ_EDITION_NAME columns in the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view.

31.4.5 Auditing the READ ANY TABLE and SELECT ANY TABLE Privileges

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit the READ ANY TABLE and SELECT ANY TABLE privileges.

31.4.5.1 About Auditing the READ ANY TABLE and SELECT ANY TABLE Privileges

You can create unified audit policies that capture the use of the READ ANY TABLE and SELECT ANY TABLE system privileges.

Based on the action that the user tried to perform and the privilege that was granted to the user, the SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_USED column of the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view will record either the READ ANY TABLE system privilege or the SELECT ANY TABLE system privilege. For example, suppose the user has been granted the SELECT ANY TABLE privilege and then performs a query on a table. The audit trail will record that the user used the SELECT ANY TABLE system privilege. If the user was granted READ ANY TABLE and performed the same query, then the READ ANY TABLE privilege is recorded.

31.4.5.2 Creating a Unified Audit Policy to Capture READ Object Privilege Operations

You can create unified audit policies that capture READ object privilege operations.

  • To create a unified audit policy to capture any READ object operations, create the policy for the SELECT statement, not for the READ statement.

For example: 

CREATE AUDIT POLICY read_hr_employees
 ACTIONS SELECT ON HR.EMPLOYEES;

For any SELECT object operations, also create the policy on the SELECT statement, as with other object actions that you can audit.

Related Topics

31.4.5.3 How the Unified Audit Trail Captures READ ANY TABLE and SELECT ANY TABLE

The unified audit trail captures SELECT behavior based on whether a user has the READ ANY TABLE or the SELECT ANY TABLE privilege.

Table 31-3 describes how the unified audit trail captures these actions.

Table 31-3 Auditing Behavior for READ ANY TABLE and SELECT ANY TABLE

Statement User Issues Privilege Granted to User System Privilege Being Audited Expected UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL Behavior

SELECT

SELECT ANY TABLE

SELECT ANY TABLE

Record inserted into SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_USED:

SELECT ANY TABLE

SELECT

SELECT ANY TABLE

READ ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT

SELECT ANY TABLE

Both SELECT ANY TABLE and READ ANY TABLE

Record inserted into SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_USED:

SELECT ANY TABLE

SELECT

SELECT ANY TABLE

Neither SELECT ANY TABLE nor READ ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT

READ ANY TABLE

SELECT ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT

READ ANY TABLE

READ ANY TABLE

Record inserted into SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_USED:

READ ANY TABLE

SELECT

READ ANY TABLE

Both SELECT ANY TABLE and READ ANY TABLE

Record inserted into SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_USED:

READ ANY TABLE

SELECT

READ ANY TABLE

Neither SELECT ANY TABLE nor READ ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT

Both SELECT ANY TABLE and READ ANY TABLE

SELECT ANY TABLE

No record, because READ ANY TABLE was used for access

SELECT

Both SELECT ANY TABLE and READ ANY TABLE

READ ANY TABLE

Record inserted into SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_USED:

READ ANY TABLE

SELECT

Both SELECT ANY TABLE and READ ANY TABLE

Both SELECT ANY TABLE and READ ANY TABLE

Record inserted into SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_USED:

READ ANY TABLE

SELECT

Both SELECT ANY TABLE and READ ANY TABLE

Neither SELECT ANY TABLE nor READ ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT

Neither SELECT ANY TABLE nor READ ANY TABLE

SELECT ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT

Neither SELECT ANY TABLE nor READ ANY TABLE

READ ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT

Neither SELECT ANY TABLE nor READ ANY TABLE

Both SELECT ANY TABLE and READ ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT

Neither SELECT ANY TABLE nor READ ANY TABLE

Neither SELECT ANY TABLE nor READ ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT ... FOR UPDATE

SELECT ANY TABLE

SELECT ANY TABLE

Record inserted into SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_USED:

SELECT ANY TABLE

SELECT ... FOR UPDATE

SELECT ANY TABLE

READ ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT ... FOR UPDATE

SELECT ANY TABLE

Both SELECT ANY TABLE and READ ANY TABLE

Record inserted into SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_USED:

SELECT ANY TABLE

SELECT ... FOR UPDATE

SELECT ANY TABLE

Neither SELECT ANY TABLE nor READ ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT ... FOR UPDATE

READ ANY TABLE

SELECT ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT ... FOR UPDATE

READ ANY TABLE

READ ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT ... FOR UPDATE

READ ANY TABLE

Both SELECT ANY TABLE and READ ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT ... FOR UPDATE

READ ANY TABLE

Neither SELECT ANY TABLE nor READ ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT ... FOR UPDATE

Both SELECT ANY TABLE and READ ANY TABLE

SELECT ANY TABLE

Record inserted into SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_USED:

SELECT ANY TABLE

SELECT ... FOR UPDATE

Both SELECT ANY TABLE and READ ANY TABLE

READ ANY TABLE

No record, because READ ANY TABLE was used for access

SELECT ... FOR UPDATE

Both SELECT ANY TABLE and READ ANY TABLE

Both SELECT ANY TABLE and READ ANY TABLE

Record inserted into SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_USED:

SELECT ANY TABLE

SELECT ... FOR UPDATE

Both SELECT ANY TABLE and READ ANY TABLE

Neither SELECT ANY TABLE nor READ ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT ... FOR UPDATE

Neither SELECT ANY TABLE nor READ ANY TABLE

SELECT ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT ... FOR UPDATE

Neither SELECT ANY TABLE nor READ ANY TABLE

READ ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT ... FOR UPDATE

Neither SELECT ANY TABLE nor READ ANY TABLE

Both SELECT ANY TABLE and READ ANY TABLE

No record

SELECT ... FOR UPDATE

Neither SELECT ANY TABLE nor READ ANY TABLE

Neither SELECT ANY TABLE or READ ANY TABLE

No record

31.4.6 Auditing Only Top-Level Statements

You can audit top-level user-initiated SQL or PL/SQL statements to reduce audit volume.

31.4.6.1 About Auditing Only Top-Level SQL Statements

A top-level statement is a statement that is executed directly by a user, not a statement that is run from within a PL/SQL procedure.

Consider auditing top-level statements from all users, including user SYS to reduce the volume of audit. The feature audits all the user-initiated actions and ignores the recursive SQL statements. For example, auditing the DBMS_STATS.GATHER_DATABASE_STATS SQL statement can generate over 200,000 individual audit records and by adding top-level this reduces to a single audit record.

31.4.6.2 Configuring a Unified Audit Policy to Capture Only Top-Level Statements

The ONLY TOPLEVEL clause in the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement enables you to audit only the SQL statements that are directly issued by an end user by honoring the audit configuration in the audit policy.

To find policies that include the ONLY TOPLEVEL clause, query the AUDIT_ONLY_TOPLEVEL column of the AUDIT_UNIFIED_POLICIES data dictionary view.
Use the following syntax to create a unified audit policy that audits only top-level SQL statements. 
CREATE AUDIT POLICY policy_name
all_existing_options
ONLY TOPLEVEL;

For example, to limit the audit trail to top-level instances of the SELECT statement on the HR.EMPLOYEES table: 

CREATE AUDIT POLICY actions_on_hr_emp_pol
ACTIONS SELECT ON HR.EMPLOYEES
ONLY TOPLEVEL;
31.4.6.3 Example: Auditing Top-Level Statements

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can include or exclude top-level statement audit records in the unified audit trail for any user.

The following example shows an audit policy that will capture all top level statements executed by user SYS.

Example 31-13 Example: Auditing Top-Level Statements Run by User SYS

CREATE AUDIT POLICY actions_all_pol ACTIONS ALL
ONLY TOPLEVEL;

AUDIT POLICY actions_all_pol BY SYS;
31.4.6.4 Example: Comparison of Top-Level SQL Statement Audits

You can generate top-level SQL statement audit records from SQL statements that are run directly in SQL or from within a PL/SQL procedure.

This example shows how generating audit records differs when you access a view outside a PL/SQL procedure as opposed to accessing the view inside the PL/SQL procedure. The output illustrates the difference in volume in audit records that are generated from the two different audit policies.

  1. Log in to the database instance as user SYS with the SYSDBA administrative privilege.

    In a multitenant environment, log in to the PDB. To find the available PDBs in a CDB, log in to the CDB root container and then query the PDB_NAME column of the DBA_PDBS data dictionary view. To check the current container, run the show con_name command.

  2. Create the following procedure:
    CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE proc1 AS
cnt number;
BEGIN
  SELECT COUNT(*) INTO CNT FROM SYS.DBA_USERS WHERE USER_ID=9999;
END;
/
  3. Create the and enable following audit policy to capture top-level actions:
    CREATE AUDIT POLICY toplevel_pol ACTIONS ALL ONLY TOPLEVEL;
AUDIT POLICY toplevel_pol;
  4. Run the following query to generate an audit record and to access the SYS.DBA_USERS view outside of the proc1 procedure that you just created:
    SELECT /* TOPLEVEL */ COUNT(*) FROM SYS.DBA_USERS WHERE USER_ID=0000;

    The output should be as follows:

      COUNT(*)
----------
         1
  5. Run the proc1 procedure that you created earlier, to access the SYS.DBA_USERS view again, but from within a procedure. 
    EXEC proc1;
  6. Query the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view as follows:
    SELECT ACTION_NAME, OBJECT_SCHEMA,OBJECT_NAME,STATEMENT_ID,ENTRY_ID,
  UNIFIED_AUDIT_POLICIES,SQL_TEXT 
  FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL 
  ORDER BY EVENT_TIMESTAMP;

    Output similar to the following appears:

    ACTION_NAME          OBJECT_SCHEMA
-------------------- ------------------------------
OBJECT_NAME                    STATEMENT_ID   ENTRY_ID
------------------------------ ------------ ----------
UNIFIED_AUDIT_POLICIES
------------------------------
SQL_TEXT
------------------------------------------------------------
LOGON
                                          1          1
TOPLEVEL_POL


COMMIT
                                          3          2
TOPLEVEL_POL


COMMIT
                                          4          3
TOPLEVEL_POL


SELECT               SYS
USER$                                     5          4
TOPLEVEL_POL
select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
_id=0000

SELECT               SYS
RESOURCE_GROUP_MAPPING$                   5          5
TOPLEVEL_POL
select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
_id=0000

SELECT               SYS
TS$                                       5          6
TOPLEVEL_POL
select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
_id=0000

SELECT               SYS
TS$                                       5          7
TOPLEVEL_POL
select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
_id=0000

SELECT               SYS
TS$                                       5          8
TOPLEVEL_POL
select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
_id=0000

SELECT               SYS
PROFNAME$                                 5          9
TOPLEVEL_POL
select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
_id=0000

SELECT               SYS
USER_ASTATUS_MAP                          5         10
TOPLEVEL_POL
select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
_id=0000

SELECT               SYS
PROFILE$                                  5         11
TOPLEVEL_POL
select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
_id=0000

SELECT               SYS
PROFILE$                                  5         12
TOPLEVEL_POL
select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
_id=0000

SELECT               SYS
DBA_USERS                                 5         13
TOPLEVEL_POL
select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
_id=0000

EXECUTE              SYS
PROC1                                     7         14
TOPLEVEL_POL
BEGIN proc1; END;

14 rows selected.
  7. Disable and then drop the toplevel_pol audit policy. 
    NOAUDIT POLICY toplevel_pol;
DROP AUDIT POLICY toplevel_pol;
  8. Create and enable a new audit policy to capture all actions.
    CREATE AUDIT POLICY recursive_pol ACTIONS ALL;
AUDIT POLICY recursive_pol;
  9. Clean up the audit trail. 
    DBMS_AUDIT_MGMT.CLEAN_AUDIT_TRAIL(DBMS_AUDIT_MGMT.AUDIT_TRAIL_UNIFIED,FALSE);
  10. Run the following query to generate an audit record and to access the SYS.DBA_USERS view outside of the proc1 procedure: 
    SELECT /* TOPLEVEL */ COUNT(*) FROM SYS.DBA_USERS WHERE USER_ID=0000;

    The output should be as follows:

      COUNT(*)
----------
         1
  11. Run the proc1 procedure to access the SYS.DBA_USERS again, but from within the proc1 procedure. 
    EXEC proc1;
  12. Query the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view as follows:
    SELECT ACTION_NAME, OBJECT_SCHEMA,OBJECT_NAME,STATEMENT_ID,ENTRY_ID,
  UNIFIED_AUDIT_POLICIES,SQL_TEXT 
  FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL 
  ORDER BY EVENT_TIMESTAMP;

    Output similar to the following should appear:

    ACTION_NAME          OBJECT_SCHEMA
-------------------- ------------------------------
OBJECT_NAME                    UNIFIED_AUDIT_POLICIES         STATEMENT_ID
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------
  ENTRY_ID SQL_TEXT
---------- ------------------------------------------------------------
LOGON
                               RECURSIVE_POL                             1
         1

ALTER SESSION
                               RECURSIVE_POL                             1
         2 ALTER SESSION SET TIME_ZONE='-07:00'

COMMIT
                               RECURSIVE_POL                             3
         3
COMMIT
                               RECURSIVE_POL                             4
         4

SELECT               SYS
USER$                          RECURSIVE_POL                             5
         5 select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
           _id=0000

SELECT               SYS
RESOURCE_GROUP_MAPPING$        RECURSIVE_POL                             5
         6 select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
           _id=0000

SELECT               SYS
TS$                            RECURSIVE_POL                             5
         7 select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
           _id=0000

SELECT               SYS
TS$                            RECURSIVE_POL                             5
         8 select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
           _id=0000

SELECT               SYS
TS$                            RECURSIVE_POL                             5
         9 select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
           _id=0000

SELECT               SYS
PROFNAME$                      RECURSIVE_POL                             5
        10 select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
           _id=0000

SELECT               SYS
USER_ASTATUS_MAP               RECURSIVE_POL                             5
        11 select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
           _id=0000

SELECT               SYS
PROFILE$                       RECURSIVE_POL                             5
        12 select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
           _id=0000

SELECT               SYS
PROFILE$                       RECURSIVE_POL                             5
        13 select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
           _id=0000

SELECT               SYS
DBA_USERS                      RECURSIVE_POL                             5
        14 select /* toplevel */ count(*) from sys.dba_users where user
           _id=0000

SELECT               SYS
USER$                          RECURSIVE_POL                             7
        15 SELECT COUNT(*) FROM SYS.DBA_USERS WHERE USER_ID=9999

SELECT               SYS
RESOURCE_GROUP_MAPPING$        RECURSIVE_POL                             7
        16 SELECT COUNT(*) FROM SYS.DBA_USERS WHERE USER_ID=9999

SELECT               SYS
TS$                            RECURSIVE_POL                             7
        17 SELECT COUNT(*) FROM SYS.DBA_USERS WHERE USER_ID=9999

SELECT               SYS
TS$                            RECURSIVE_POL                             7
        18 SELECT COUNT(*) FROM SYS.DBA_USERS WHERE USER_ID=9999

SELECT               SYS
TS$                            RECURSIVE_POL                             7
        19 SELECT COUNT(*) FROM SYS.DBA_USERS WHERE USER_ID=9999

SELECT               SYS
PROFNAME$                      RECURSIVE_POL                             7
        20 SELECT COUNT(*) FROM SYS.DBA_USERS WHERE USER_ID=9999

SELECT               SYS
USER_ASTATUS_MAP               RECURSIVE_POL                             7
        21 SELECT COUNT(*) FROM SYS.DBA_USERS WHERE USER_ID=9999

SELECT               SYS
PROFILE$                       RECURSIVE_POL                             7
        22 SELECT COUNT(*) FROM SYS.DBA_USERS WHERE USER_ID=9999

SELECT               SYS
PROFILE$                       RECURSIVE_POL                             7
        23 SELECT COUNT(*) FROM SYS.DBA_USERS WHERE USER_ID=9999

SELECT               SYS
DBA_USERS                      RECURSIVE_POL                             7
        24 SELECT COUNT(*) FROM SYS.DBA_USERS WHERE USER_ID=9999

EXECUTE              SYS
PROC1                          RECURSIVE_POL                             7
        25 BEGIN proc1; END;

25 rows selected.

    The output in this query generates 25 records, as opposed to the 14 that were generated earlier.

  13. Disable and remove the recursive_pol policy. 
    NOAUDIT POLICY recursive_pol;
DROP AUDIT POLICY recursive_pol;
31.4.6.5 How the Unified Audit Trail Captures Top-Level SQL Statements

The ONLY TOPLEVEL clause has no impact on the output for an individual unified audit trail record.

The only effect that ONLY TOPLEVEL has on a policy is to limit the number of records generated for the given unified audit policy.

31.5 Unified Auditing with Configurable Conditions

You can use the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement to create conditions for a unified audit policy.

31.5.1 About Conditions in Unified Audit Policies

You can use conditions in unified audit policies to create focused and selective audit policies.

You can use the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement to create conditions for a unified audit policy. For example, you can create policy that audits only when access is from a specific host or IP address. If the audit condition is satisfied, then only then the audit record is generated for the event. As part of the condition definition, you must specify whether the audited condition is evaluated per statement occurrence, session, or database instance.

Note:

Audit conditions can use attributes from the USERENV namespace, or from named application contexts (both secure and insecure).

31.5.2 Configuring a Unified Audit Policy with a Condition

The WHEN clause in the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement defines the condition in the audit policy.

  • Use the following syntax to create a unified audit policy that uses a condition: 

    CREATE AUDIT POLICY policy_name
 action_privilege_role_audit_option
[WHEN function_operation_value_list_1 [[AND | OR] function_operation_value_list_n]
 EVALUATE PER STATEMENT | SESSION | INSTANCE];

In this specification:

  • action_privilege_role_audit_option refers to audit options for system actions, object actions, privileges, and roles.

  • WHEN defines the condition. It has the following components:

    • function uses the following types of functions:

      Numeric functions, such as BITAND, CEIL, FLOOR, and LN POWER

      Character functions that return character values, such as CONCAT, LOWER, and UPPER

      Character functions that return numeric values, such as LENGTH or INSTR

      Environment and identifier functions, such as SYS_CONTEXT and UID. For SYS_CONTEXT, in most cases, you may want to use the USERENV namespace.

    • operation can be any the following operators: AND, OR, IN, NOT IN, =, <, >, <>

    • value_list refers to the condition for which you are testing.

    You can include additional conditions for each function_operation_value_list set, separated by AND or OR.

    When you write the WHEN clause, follow these guidelines:

    • Enclose the entire function operation value setting in single quotation marks. Within the clause, enclose each quoted component within two pairs of single quotation marks. Do not use double quotation marks.

    • Do not exceed 4000 bytes for the WHEN condition.

  • EVALUATE PER refers to the following options:

    • STATEMENT evaluates the condition for each relevant auditable statement that occurs.

    • SESSION evaluates the condition only once during the session, and then caches and re-uses the result during the remainder of the session. Oracle Database evaluates the condition the first time the policy is used, and then stores the result in UGA memory afterward.

    • INSTANCE evaluates the condition only once during the database instance lifetime. After Oracle Database evaluates the condition, it caches and re-uses the result for the remainder of the instance lifetime. As with the SESSION evaluation, the evaluation takes place the first time it is needed, and then the results are stored in UGA memory afterward.

For example: 

CREATE AUDIT POLICY oe_orders_pol
 ACTIONS UPDATE ON OE.ORDERS
 WHEN 'SYS_CONTEXT(''USERENV'', ''IDENTIFICATION_TYPE'') = ''EXTERNAL'''
 EVALUATE PER STATEMENT;

Remember that after you create the policy, you must use the AUDIT statement to enable it.

Related Topics

31.5.3 Example: Auditing Access to SQL*Plus

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit access to SQL*Plus.

Example 31-14 shows how to audit access to the database with SQL*Plus by users who have been directly granted the roles emp_admin and sales_admin.

Example 31-14 Auditing Access to SQL*Plus

CREATE AUDIT POLICY logon_pol
 ACTIONS LOGON
 WHEN 'INSTR(UPPER(SYS_CONTEXT(''USERENV'', ''CLIENT_PROGRAM_NAME'')), ''SQLPLUS'') > 0'
 EVALUATE PER SESSION;

AUDIT POLICY logon_pol BY USERS WITH GRANTED ROLES emp_admin, sales_admin;

31.5.4 Example: Auditing Actions Not in Specific Hosts

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit actions that are not in specific hosts.

Example 31-15 shows how to audit two actions (UPDATE and DELETE statements) on the OE.ORDERS table, but excludes the host names sales_24 and sales_12 from the audit. It performs the audit on a per session basis and writes audit records for failed attempts only.

Example 31-15 Auditing Actions Not in Specific Hosts

CREATE AUDIT POLICY oe_table_audit1
 ACTIONS UPDATE ON OE.ORDERS, DELETE ON OE.ORDERS 
 WHEN 'SYS_CONTEXT (''USERENV'', ''HOST'') NOT IN (''sales_24'',''sales_12'')' 
 EVALUATE PER SESSION;

AUDIT POLICY oe_table_audit1 WHENEVER NOT SUCCESSFUL;

31.5.5 Example: Auditing Both a System-Wide and a Schema-Specific Action

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit both system-wide and schema-specific actions.

Example 31-16 shows a variation of Example 31-15 in which the UPDATE statement is audited system wide. The DELETE statement audit is still specific to the OE.ORDERS table.

Example 31-16 Auditing Both a System-Wide and a Schema-Specific Action

CREATE AUDIT POLICY oe_table_audit2
 ACTIONS UPDATE, DELETE ON OE.ORDERS
 WHEN 'SYS_CONTEXT (''USERENV'', ''HOST'') NOT IN (''sales_24'',''sales_12'')' 
 EVALUATE PER SESSION;

AUDIT POLICY oe_table_audit2;

31.5.6 Example: Auditing a Condition Per Statement Occurrence

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit conditions.

Example 31-17 shows how to audit a condition based on each occurrence of the DELETE statement on the OE.ORDERS table and exclude user jmartin from the audit.

Example 31-17 Auditing a Condition Per Statement Occurrence

CREATE AUDIT POLICY sales_clerk_pol
 ACTIONS DELETE ON OE.ORDERS
 WHEN 'SYS_CONTEXT(''USERENV'', ''CLIENT_IDENTIFIER'') = ''sales_clerk'''
 EVALUATE PER STATEMENT;

AUDIT POLICY sales_clerk_pol EXCEPT jmartin;

31.5.7 Example: Unified Audit Session ID of a Current Administrative User Session

The SYS_CONTEXT function can be used to find session IDs.

Example 31-18 shows how to find the unified audit session ID of current user session for an administrative user.

Example 31-18 Unified Audit Session ID of a Current Administrative User Session

CONNECT SYS AS SYSDBA
Enter password: password

SELECT SYS_CONTEXT('USERENV', 'UNIFIED_AUDIT_SESSIONID') FROM DUAL;

Output similar to the following appears:

SYS_CONTEXT('USERENV','UNIFIED_AUDIT_SESSIONID')
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2318470183

Note that in mixed mode auditing, the UNIFIED_AUDIT_SESSIONID value in the USERENV namespace is different from the value that is recorded by the SESSIONID parameter. Hence, if you are using mixed mode auditing and want to find the correct audit session ID, you should use the USERENV UNIFIED_AUDIT_SESSIONID parameter, not the SESSIONID parameter. In pure unified auditing, the SESSIONID and UNIFIED_AUDIT_SESSIONID values are the same.

31.5.8 Example: Unified Audit Session ID of a Current Non-Administrative User Session

The SYS_CONTEXT function can find the session ID of a current non-administrative user session.

Example 31-19 shows how to find the unified audit session ID of a current user session for a non-administrative user.

Example 31-19 Unified Audit Session ID of a Current Non-Administrative User Session

CONNECT mblake@pdb_name
Enter password: password

SELECT SYS_CONTEXT('USERENV', 'UNIFIED_AUDIT_SESSIONID') FROM DUAL;

Output similar to the following appears:

SYS_CONTEXT('USERENV','UNIFIED_AUDIT_SESSIONID')
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2776921346

31.5.9 How Audit Records from Conditions Appear in the Audit Trail

The audit record conditions from a unified audit policy do not appear in the audit trail.

If the condition evaluates to true and the record is written, then the record appears in the audit trail. You can check the audit trail by querying the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view.

Related Topics

31.6 Auditing for Multitier or Multitenant Configurations

You can create unified audit policies using conditions and application contexts, and in multitier and multitenant environments.

31.6.1 Auditing in a Multitier Deployment

You can create a unified audit policy to audit the activities of a client in a multitier environment.

In a multitier environment, Oracle Database preserves the identity of a client through all tiers. Thus, you can audit actions taken on behalf of the client by a middle-tier application, by using the BY user clause in the AUDIT statement for your policy. The audit applies to all user sessions, including proxy sessions.

The middle tier can also set the user client identity in a database session, enabling the auditing of end-user actions through the middle-tier application. The end-user client identity then shows up in the audit trail.

For example, suppose the proxy user apphr can connect as user jackson. The policy and enablement can be as follows: 

CREATE AUDIT POLICY prox_pol ACTIONS LOGON;
AUDIT POLICY prox_pol BY jackson;

You can audit user activity in a multitier environment. Once audited, you can verify these activities by querying the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view. For example: 

SELECT DBUSERNAME, DB_PROXY_USERNAME, PROXY_SESSIONID, ACTION_NAME
FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL
WHERE DBPROXY_USERNAME IS NOT NULL;

Output similar to the following appears:


DBUSERNAME  DBPROXY_USERNAME  PROXY_SESSIONID  ACTION_NAME
----------  ----------------  ---------------  ----------- 
JACKSON     APPHR             1214623540       LOGON

Figure 31-1 illustrates how you can audit proxy users by querying the PROXY_SESSIONID, ACTION_NAME, and SESSION_ID columns of the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL view. In this scenario, both the database user and proxy user accounts are known to the database. Session pooling can be used.

Figure 31-1 Auditing Proxy Users

Description of Figure 31-1 follows
Description of "Figure 31-1 Auditing Proxy Users"

Figure 31-2 illustrates how you can audit client identifier information across multiple database sessions by querying the CLIENT_ID column of the DBA_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view. In this scenario, the client identifier has been set to CLIENT_A. As with the proxy user-database user scenario described in Figure 31-1, session pooling can be used.

Figure 31-2 Auditing Client Identifier Information Across Sessions

Description of Figure 31-2 follows
Description of "Figure 31-2 Auditing Client Identifier Information Across Sessions"

Related Topics

31.6.2 Auditing in a Multitenant Deployment

You can create unified audit policies for individual PDBs and in the root.

31.6.2.1 About Local, CDB Common, and Application Common Audit Policies

An audit policy can be either a local audit policy, a CDB common audit policy, or an application common audit policy.

This applies to both unified audit policies and policies that are created using the AUDIT SQL statement.

  • Local audit policy. This type of policy can exist in either the root (CDB or application) or the PDB (CDB or application). A local audit policy that exists in the root can contain object audit options for both local and common objects. Both local and common users who have been granted the AUDIT_ADMIN role can enable local policies: local users from their PDBs and common users from the root or the PDB to which they have privileges. You can enable a local audit policy for both local and common users and roles.

    You can create local audit policies for application local objects and application local roles, as well as system action options and system privilege options. You cannot enforce a local audit policy for a common user across all containers, nor can you enforce a common audit policy for a local user.

  • CDB common audit policy. This type of policy is available to all PDBs in the multitenant environment. Only common users who have been granted the AUDIT_ADMIN role can create and maintain common audit policies. You can enable common audit policies only for common users. You must create common audit policies only in the root. This type of policy can contain object audit options of only common objects, and be enabled only for common users. You can enable a common audit policy for common users and roles only.

    The name of a CDB common audit policy must begin with the value of the COMMON_USER_PREFIX initialization parameter. The default value of the COMMON_USER_PREFIX parameter is c##. For example, c##hr_admin is a valid common audit policy name. The length of the audit policy name cannot exceed 128 bytes and must contain ASCII characters only.

    You cannot enforce a common audit policy for a local user across all containers.

  • Application common audit policy. Similar to CDB common audit policies, this type of policy is available to all PDBs in the multitenant environment. You can create common audit policies for application common objects and application common roles, as well as system action options and system privilege options. You can only create this type of policy in the application root container, but you can enable it on both application common users and CDB common users. If you want to audit objects, then ensure that these objects are application common objects. You can determine whether an object is an application common object by querying the SHARING column of the DBA_OBJECTS data dictionary view.

    The naming conventions for application common audit policies follow the same rules as those for CDB common audit policies, except that the value of the COMMON_USER_PREFIX is fetched from the application root. The default value in application root is an empty string. For example, hr_admin is a valid application common audit policy name.

By default, audit policies are local to the current PDB, for both CDB and application scenarios.

The following table explains how audit policies apply in different multitenant environments.

Table 31-4 How Audit Policies Apply to the CDB Root, Application Root, and Individual PDBs

Audit Option Type CDB Root Application Root Individual PDB

Common audit statement or audit policy

Applies to CDB common users

Applies to CDB common users

Applies to CDB common users

Application container common audit statement or audit policy

Not applicable

  • Applies to CDB common users and are valid for the current application container only

  • Applies to application container common users

  • Applies to CDB common users and are valid for this application container only

  • Applies to application common users

Local audit statement or audit policy

Local configurations not allowed

Local configurations not allowed

  • Applies to CDB common users

  • Applies to application common users
31.6.2.2 Common Audit Configurations Across All PDBs

A common audit configuration is visible and enforced across all PDBs.

Audit configurations are either local or common. The scoping rules that apply to other local or common phenomena, such as users and roles, all apply to audit configurations.

Note:

Audit initialization parameters exist at the CDB level and not in each PDB.

PDBs support the following auditing options:

  • Object auditing

    Object auditing refers to audit configurations for specific objects. Only common objects can be part of the common audit configuration. A local audit configuration cannot contain common objects.

  • Audit policies

    Audit policies can be local or common:

    • Local audit policies

      A local audit policy applies to a single PDB. You can enforce local audit policies for local and common users in this PDB only. Attempts to enforce local audit policies across all containers result in an error.

      In all cases, enforcing of a local audit policy is part of the local auditing framework.

    • Common audit policies

      A common audit policy applies to all containers. When you create a common audit policy, prefix the name with C## or c## (for example, c##all_select_pol). This policy can only contain actions, system privileges, common roles, and common objects. You can apply a common audit policy only to common users. Attempts to enforce a common audit policy for a local user across all containers result in an error.

A common audit configuration is stored in the SYS schema of the root. A local audit configuration is stored in the SYS schema of the PDB to which it applies.

Audit trails are stored in the SYS or AUDSYS schemas of the relevant CDB or PDB container. Operating system and XML audit trails for PDBs are stored in subdirectories of the directory specified by the AUDIT_FILE_DEST (deprecated) initialization parameter.

31.6.2.3 Unified Audit Policies in an Application Root

When you create an application root from a regular PDB, any local unified audit policies in this PDB are added to this application root.

This applies to both unified audit policies and policies that are created using the AUDIT SQL statement.

In this situation, you will need to convert the local unified audit policies to common unified audit policies. To do so, drop each existing local unified audit policy from the application root and then use the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement to recreate it as an application common audit policy.

31.6.2.4 Configuring a Local Unified Audit Policy or Common Unified Audit Policy

The CONTAINER clause is specific to multitenant environment use for the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement.

To create a local or common (CDB or application) unified audit policy in either the CDB environment or an application container environment, include the CONTAINER clause in the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement.

  • Use the following syntax to create a local or common unified audit policy: 

    CREATE AUDIT POLICY policy_name
 action1 [,action2 ]
 [CONTAINER = {CURRENT | ALL}];

In this specification:

  • CURRENT sets the audit policy to be local to the current PDB.

  • ALL makes the audit policy a common audit policy, that is, available to the entire multitenant environment.

For example, for a common unified audit policy: 

CREATE AUDIT POLICY dict_updates 
 ACTIONS UPDATE ON SYS.USER$, 
  DELETE ON SYS.USER$, 
  UPDATE ON SYS.LINK$, 
  DELETE ON SYS.LINK$ 
  CONTAINER = ALL;

Note the following:

  • You can set the CONTAINER clause for the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement but not for ALTER AUDIT POLICY or DROP AUDIT POLICY. If you want to change the scope of an existing unified audit policy to use this setting, then you must drop and re-create the policy.

  • For AUDIT statements, you can set the CONTAINER clause for audit settings only if you have an Oracle database that has not been migrated to the Release 12.x and later audit features. You cannot use the CONTAINER clause in an AUDIT statement that is used to enable a unified audit policy.

  • If you are in a PDB, then you can only set the CONTAINER clause to CURRENT, not ALL. If you omit the setting while in the PDB, then the default is CONTAINER = CURRENT.

  • If you are in the root, then you can set the CONTAINER clause to either CURRENT if you want the policy to apply to the root only, or to ALL if you want the policy to apply to the entire CDB. If you omit the CONTAINER clause, then default is CONTAINER = CURRENT.

  • For objects:

    • Common audit policies can have common objects only and local audit policies can have both local objects and common objects.

    • You cannot set CONTAINER to ALL if the objects involved are local. They must be common objects.

  • For privileges:

    • You can set the CONTAINER to CURRENT (or omit the CONTAINER clause) if the user accounts involved are a mixture of local and common accounts. This creates a local audit configuration that applies only to the current PDB.

    • You cannot set CONTAINER to ALL if the users involved are local users. They must be common users.

    • If you set CONTAINER to ALL and do not specify a user list (using the BY clause in the AUDIT statement), then the configuration applies to all common users in each PDB.

  • For application containers, you can run a common unified audit policy from the application container script that is used for application install, upgrade, patch, and uninstall operations. To do so:

    1. Create a common unified audit policy in the application container root, and set this policy to CONTAINER = ALL. Alternatively, you can include this policy in the script that is described in this next step.

    2. Create a custom version of the script you normally would use to install, upgrade, patch, or uninstall Oracle Database.

    3. Within this script, include the SQL statements that you want to audit within the following lines:

      ALTER PLUGGABLE DATABASE APPLICATION BEGIN INSTALL
List SQL statements here. Separate each statement with a semi-colon.
ALTER PLUGGABLE DATABASE APPLICATION END INSTALL

      If you include the unified audit policy in the script, then ensure that you include both the CREATE AUDIT POLICY and AUDIT POLICY statements.

    After the audit policy is created and enabled, all user access to the application common objects is audited irrespective of whether the audit policy is defined in the database or from the script.

  • To audit application install, upgrade, patch, and uninstall operations locally in an application root or an application PDB, follow a procedure similar to the preceding procedure for common unified audit policies, but synchronize the application PDB afterward. For example:

    ALTER PLUGGABLE DATABASE APPLICATION application_name SYNC;
31.6.2.5 Example: Local Unified Audit Policy

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can create a local unified audit policy in either the root or a PDB.

When you create a local unified audit policy in the root, it only applies to the root and not across the multitenant environment.

The following example shows a local unified audit policy that has been created by the common user c##sec_admin from a PDB and applied to common user c##hr_admin.

Example 31-20 Local Unified Audit Policy

CONNECT c##sec_admin@pdb_name
Enter password: password
Connected.

CREATE AUDIT POLICY table_privs
 PRIVILEGES CREATE ANY TABLE, DROP ANY TABLE
 CONTAINER = CURRENT;

AUDIT POLICY table_privs BY c##hr_admin;
31.6.2.6 Example: CDB Common Unified Audit Policy

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can create a CDB common unified audit policy.

Example 31-21 shows a common unified audit policy that has been created by the common user c##sec_admin from the root and applied to common user c##hr_admin.

Example 31-21 Common Unified Audit Policy

CONNECT c##sec_admin
Enter password: password
Connected.

CREATE AUDIT POLICY admin_pol
 ACTIONS CREATE TABLE, ALTER TABLE, DROP TABLE
 ROLES c##hr_mgr, c##hr_sup
 CONTAINER = ALL;

AUDIT POLICY admin_pol BY c##hr_admin;
31.6.2.7 Example: Application Common Unified Audit Policy

For application container common unified audit policies, you can audit action options and system privilege options, and refer to common objects and roles.

You can create the application common audit policy only from the application root, and enable the policy for both application common users and CDB common users.

The following example shows how to create a policy that audits the application common user SYSTEM for the application container app_pdb. The audit policy audits SELECT actions on the SYSTEM.utils_tab table and on DROP TABLE actions on any of the PDBs in the container database, including the CDB root. The policy also audits the use of the SELECT ANY TABLE system privilege across all containers.

Example 31-22 Application Common Unified Audit Policy

CONNECT c##sec_admin@app_pdb
Enter password: password
Connected.

CREATE AUDIT POLICY app_pdb_admin_pol
 ACTIONS SELECT ON hr_app_cdb.utils_tab, DROP TABLE
 PRIVILEGES SELECT ANY TABLE
 CONTAINER = ALL;

AUDIT POLICY app_pdb_admin_pol by SYSTEM, c##hr_admin;

In the preceding example, setting CONTAINER to ALL applies the policy only to all the relevant object accesses in the application root and on all the application PDBs that belong to the application root. It does not apply the policy outside this scope.

31.6.2.8 How Local or Common Audit Policies or Settings Appear in the Audit Trail

You can query unified audit policy views from either the root or the PDB in which the action occurred.

You can perform the following types of queries:

  • Audit records from all PDBs. The audit trail reflects audited actions that have been performed in the PDBs. For example, if user lbrown in PDB1 performs an action that has been audited by either a common or a local audit policy, then the audit trail will capture this action. The DBID column in the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view indicates the PDB in which the audited action takes place and to which the policy applies. If you want to see audit records from all PDBs, you should query the CDB_UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view from the root.

  • Audit records from common audit policies. This location is where the common audit policy results in an audit record. The audit record can be generated anywhere in the multitenant environment—the root or the PDBs, depending on where the action really occurred. For example, the common audit policy fga_pol audits the EXECUTE privilege on the DBMS_FGA PL/SQL package, and if this action occurs in PDB1, then the audit record is generated in PDB1 and not in the root. Hence, the audit record can be seen in PDB1.

    You can query the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view for the policy from either the root or a PDB if you include a WHERE clause for the policy name (for example, WHERE UNIFIED_AUDIT_POLICIES = 'FGA_POL').

The following example shows how to find the results of a common unified audit policy:

CONNECT c##sec_admin
Enter password: password
Connected.

SELECT DBID, ACTION_NAME, OBJECT_SCHEMA, OBJECT_NAME FROM CDB_UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL WHERE DBUSERNAME = 'c##hr_admin';
46892-1
DBID        ACTION_NAME  OBJECT_SCHEMA  OBJECT_NAME
----------- -----------  -------------  -----------
653916017   UPDATE       HR             EMPLOYEES
653916018   UPDATE       HR             JOB_HISTORY
653916017   UPDATE       HR             JOBS

31.7 Extending Unified Auditing to Capture Custom Attributes

You can extend the unified audit trail to capture custom attributes by auditing application context values.

31.7.1 About Auditing Application Context Values

In many cases, you may want to bring your custom attributes into the unified audit trail while auditing (for example, application attributes from the application session).

You can extend the unified audit trail to capture such custom attributes by auditing application context values. This feature enables you to capture any application context values set by the database applications, while executing the audited statement.

This feature enables you to capture any application context values set by the database applications, while executing the audited statement.

If you plan to audit Oracle Label Security, then this feature captures session label activity for the database audit trail. The audit trail records all the values retrieved for the specified context-attribute value pairs.

The application context audit setting or the audit policy have session static semantics. In other words, if a new policy is enabled for a user, then the subsequent user sessions will see an effect of this command. After the session is established, then the policies and contexts settings are loaded and the subsequent AUDIT statements have no effect on that session.

Note that the application context audit policy applies only to the current PDB.

Related Topics

31.7.2 Configuring Application Context Audit Settings

The AUDIT statement with the CONTEXT keyword configures auditing for application context values.

You do not create an unified audit policy for this type of auditing.

  • Use the following syntax to configure auditing for application context values: 

    AUDIT CONTEXT NAMESPACE context_name1 ATTRIBUTES attribute1 [, attribute2] 
 [, CONTEXT NAMESPACE context_name2 ATTRIBUTES attribute1 [, attribute2]]
 [BY user_list];

In this specification:

  • context_name1: Optionally, you can include one additional CONTEXT name-attribute value pair.

  • user_list is an optional list of database user accounts. Separate multiple names with a comma. If you omit this setting, then Oracle Database configures the application context policy for all users. When each user logs in, a list of all pertinent application contexts and their attributes is cached for the user session.

For example: 

AUDIT CONTEXT NAMESPACE clientcontext3 ATTRIBUTES module, action, 
 CONTEXT NAMESPACE ols_session_labels ATTRIBUTES ols_pol1, ols_pol3
 BY appuser1, appuser2;

To find a list of currently configured application context audit settings, query the AUDIT_UNIFIED_CONTEXTS data dictionary view.

31.7.3 Disabling Application Context Audit Settings

The NOAUDIT statement disables application context audit settings.

  • To disable an application context audit setting, specify the namespace and attribute settings in the NOAUDIT statement. You can enter the attributes in any order (that is, they do not need to match the order used in the corresponding AUDIT CONTEXT statement.)

For example: 

NOAUDIT CONTEXT NAMESPACE client_context ATTRIBUTES module,
CONTEXT NAMESPACE ols_session_labels ATTRIBUTES ols_pol1, ols_pol3
BY USERS WITH GRANTED ROLES emp_admin;

To find the currently audited application contexts, query the AUDIT_UNIFIED_CONTEXTS data dictionary view.

31.7.4 Example: Auditing Application Context Values in a Default Database

The AUDIT CONTEXT NAMESPACE statement can audit application context values.

Example 31-23 shows how to audit the clientcontext application values for the module and action attributes, by the user appuser1.

Example 31-23 Auditing Application Context Values in a Default Database

AUDIT CONTEXT NAMESPACE clientcontext ATTRIBUTES module, action 
BY appuser1;

31.7.5 Example: Auditing Application Context Values from Oracle Label Security

The AUDIT CONTEXT NAMESPACE statement can audit application context values from Oracle Label Security.

Example 31-24 shows how to audit an application context for Oracle Label Security called ORA_OLS_SESSION_LABELS, for the attributes ols_pol1 and ols_pol2.

Example 31-24 Auditing Application Context Values from Oracle Label Security

AUDIT CONTEXT NAMESPACE ORA_OLS_SESSION_LABELS ATTRIBUTES ols_pol1, ols_pol2;

31.7.6 How Audited Application Contexts Appear in the Audit Trail

The UNIFIED_AUDIT_POLICIES data dictionary view lists application context audit events.

The APPLICATION_CONTEXTS column of the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view shows application context audit data. The application contexts appear as a list of semi-colon separated values.

For example: 

SELECT APPLICATION_CONTEXTS FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL 
 WHERE UNIFIED_AUDIT_POLICIES = 'app_audit_pol';

APPLICATION_CONTEXTS
----------------------------------------------------------
CLIENT_CONTEXT.APPROLE=MANAGER;E2E_CONTEXT.USERNAME=PSMITH

31.8 Auditing Components of Other Oracle Products and Features

You can create unified audit policies for Oracle products and features such as Oracle Database Vault, Oracle Real Application Security, Oracle Data Pump, and Oracle Machine Learning for SQL events.

31.8.1 Auditing Oracle SQL Firewall

You can audit Oracle SQL Firewall violations with a unified audit policy.

31.8.1.1 About Auditing Oracle SQL Firewall

The occurrence of Oracle SQL Firewall violations potentially indicates abnormal database access attempts, including SQL injection and credential theft or abuse.

Auditing violations record the violation in the database audit trail, which can be protected from tampering. As an administrator with AUDIT_ADMIN role, you can create unified audit policy with the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement and with the COMPONENT clause set to SQL Firewall.

The data dictionary views for SQL Firewall begin with the name DBA_SQL_FIREWALL_. The columns FW_ACTION_NAME and FW_RETURN_CODE in the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view stores the relevant information on Oracle SQL Firewall violations.

Related Topics

31.8.1.2 Example: Auditing Oracle SQL Firewall Violations

You can use the COMPONENT clause to set the unified audit policy to track all Oracle SQL Firewall violations.

Example 31-25 shows how to create and enable this type of a unified audit policy. You can consider setting the SQL_FIREWALL component to SQL VIOLATION or CONTEXT VIOLATION to be more specific.

Example 31-25 Auditing SQL Firewall Violations

CREATE AUDIT POLICY sql_firewall_pol 
ACTIONS COMPONENT = SQL_FIREWALL ALL 
ON pfitch;

AUDIT POLICY sql_firewall_pol;
31.8.1.3 How Oracle SQL Firewall Events Appear in the Audit Trail

The UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view lists Oracle SQL Firewall audit events.

The FW_ACTION_NAME and FW_RETURN_CODE columns of the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view track SQL Firewall violations. To retrieve all the audited Oracle SQL Firewall violations, consider filtering the AUDIT_TYPE component to include the Oracle SQL Firewall component from V$UNIFIED_AUDIT_RECORD_FORMAT. For example: 

SELECT DBUSERNAME, ACTION_NAME, CURRENT_USER, SQL_TEXT, UNIFIED_AUDIT_POLICIES, FW_ACTION_NAME, FW_RETURN_CODE 
FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL 
WHERE AUDIT_TYPE 
IN (SELECT UNIQUE COMPONENT FROM V$UNIFIED_AUDIT_RECORD_FORMAT WHERE COMPONENT = 'SQL Firewall')
AND ACTION_NAME <> 'FW ADMIN ACTION';

Output similar to the following appears:

DBUSERNAME ACTION_NAME   CURRENT_USER SQL_TEXT                        UNIFIED_AUDIT_POLICIES FW_ACTION_NAME FW_RETURN_CODE
---------- ------------- ------------ –------------------------------ –--------------------- –------------- –------------
PFITCH     SQL VIOLATION PFITCH       SELECT SALARY FROM HS.EMPLOYEES HR_FW_POL              SQL Violation 0

31.8.2 Auditing Oracle Database Vault Events

In an Oracle Database Vault environment, the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit Database Vault activities.

31.8.2.1 About Auditing Oracle Database Vault Events

As an administrator with the AUDIT_ADMIN role, you can create unified audit policies with the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement and with the COMPONENT clause set to DV.

To do so, you must specify an action, such as Rule Set Failure, and an object, such as the name of a rule set.

To create Oracle Database Vault unified audit policies, you must set the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement's COMPONENT clause to DV, and then specify an action, such as Rule Set Failure, and an object, such as the name of a rule set.

To access the audit trail, you can query the following views:

  • UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL

  • AUDSYS.DV$CONFIGURATION_AUDIT

  • AUDSYS.DV$ENFORCEMENT_AUDIT

In the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL view, the Oracle Database Vault-specific columns begin with DV_. You must have the AUDIT_VIEWER role before you can query the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL view.

In addition to these views, the Database Vault reports capture the results of Database Vault-specific unified audit policies.

31.8.2.2 Who Is Audited in Oracle Database Vault?

Audited Oracle Database Vault users include administrators and users whose activities affect Database Vault enforcement policies.

These users are as follows:

  • Database Vault administrators. All configuration changes that are made to Oracle Database Vault are mandatorily audited. The auditing captures activities such as creating, modifying, or deleting realms, factors, command rules, rule sets, rules, and so on. The AUDSYS.DV$CONFIGURATION_AUDIT data dictionary view captures configuration changes made by Database Vault administrators.

  • Users whose activities affect Oracle Database Vault enforcement policies. The AUDSYS.DV$ENFORCEMENT_AUDIT data dictionary view captures enforcement-related audits

31.8.2.3 About Oracle Database Vault Unified Audit Trail Events

The audit trail in an Oracle Database Vault environment captures all configuration changes or attempts at changes to Database Vault policies.

It also captures violations by users to existing Database Vault policies.

You can audit the following kinds of Oracle Database Vault events:

  • All configuration changes or attempts at changes to Oracle Database Vault policies. It captures both Database Vault administrator changes and attempts made by unauthorized users.

  • Violations by users to existing Database Vault policies. For example, if you create a policy to prevent users from accessing a specific schema table during non-work hours, the audit trail will capture this activity.

31.8.2.4 Oracle Database Vault Realm Audit Events

The unified audit trail captures Oracle Database Vault realm events.

Table 31-5 describes these events.

Table 31-5 Oracle Database Vault Realm Audit Events

Audit Event Description

CREATE_REALM

Creates a realm through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.CREATE_REALM procedure

UPDATE_REALM

Updates a realm through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.UPDATE_REALM procedure

RENAME_REALM

Renames a realm through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.RENAME_REALM procedure

DELETE_REALM

Deletes a realm through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.DELETE_REALM procedure

DELETE_REALM_CASCADE

Deletes a realm and its related Database Vault configuration information through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.DELETE_REALM_CASCADE procedure

ADD_AUTH_TO_REALM

Adds an authorization to the realm through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.ADD_AUTH_TO_REALM procedure

DELETE_AUTH_FROM_REALM

Removes an authorization from the realm through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.DELETE_AUTH_FROM_REALM procedure

UPDATE_REALM_AUTH

Updates a realm authorization through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.UPDATE_REALM_AUTHORIZATION procedure

ADD_OBJECT_TO_REALM

Adds an object to a realm authorization through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.ADD_AUTH_TO_REALM procedure

DELETE_OBJECT_FROM_REALM

Removes an object from a realm authorization through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.DELETE_OBJECT_FROM_REALM procedure

31.8.2.5 Oracle Database Vault Rule Set and Rule Audit Events

The unified audit trail can capture Oracle Database Vault rule set and rule audit events.

Table 31-6 describes these events.

Table 31-6 Oracle Database Vault Rule Set and Rule Audit Events

Audit Event Description

CREATE_RULE_SET

Creates a rule set through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.CREATE_RULE_SET procedure

UPDATE_RULE_SET

Updates a rule set through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.UPDATE_RULE_SET procedure

RENAME_RULE_SET

Renames a rule set through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.RENAME_RULE_SET procedure

DELETE_RULE_SET

Deletes a rule set through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.DELETE_RULE_SET procedure

ADD_RULE_TO_RULE_SET

Adds a rule to an existing rule set through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.ADD_RULE_TO_RULE_SET procedure

DELETE_RULE_FROM_RULE_SET

Removes a rule from an existing rule set through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.DELETE_RULE_FROM_RULE_SET procedure

CREATE_RULE

Creates a rule through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.CREATE_RULE procedure

UPDATE_RULE

Updates a rule through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.UPDATE_RULE procedure

RENAME_RULE

Renames a rule through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.RENAME_RULE procedure

DELETE_RULE

Deletes a rule through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.DELETE_RULE procedure

SYNC_RULES

Synchronizes the rules in Oracle Database Vault and Advanced Queuing Rules engine through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.SYNC_RULES procedure

31.8.2.6 Oracle Database Vault Command Rule Audit Events

The unified audit trail can capture Oracle Database Vault command rule audit events.

Table 31-7 describes these events.

Table 31-7 Oracle Database Vault Command Rule Audit Events

Audit Event Description

CREATE_COMMAND_RULE

Creates a command rule through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.CREATE_COMMAND_RULE procedure

DELETE_COMMAND_RULE

Deletes a command rule through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.DELETE_COMMAND_RULE procedure

UPDATE_COMMAND_RULE

Updates a command rule through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.UPDATE_COMMAND_RULE procedure

31.8.2.7 Oracle Database Vault Factor Audit Events

The unified audit trail can capture Oracle Database Vault factor events.

Table 31-8 describes these events.

Table 31-8 Oracle Database Vault Factor Audit Events

Audit Event Description

CREATE_FACTOR_TYPE

Creates a factor type through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.CREATE_FACTOR_TYPE procedure

DELETE_FACTOR_TYPE

Deletes a factor type through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.DELETE_FACTOR_TYPE procedure

UPDATE_FACTOR_TYPE

Updates a factor type through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.UPDATE_FACTOR_TYPE procedure

RENAME_FACTOR_TYPE

Renames a factor type through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.RENAME_FACTOR_TYPE procedure

CREATE_FACTOR

Creates a factor through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.CREATE_FACTOR procedure

UPDATE_FACTOR

Updates a factor through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.UPDATE_FACTOR procedure

DELETE_FACTOR

Deletes a factor through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.DELETE_FACTOR procedure

RENAME_FACTOR

Renames a factor through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.RENAME_FACTOR procedure

ADD_FACTOR_LINK

Specifies a parent-child relationship between two factors through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.ADD_FACTOR_LINK procedure

DELETE_FACTOR_LINK

Removes the parent-child relationship between two factors through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.DELETE_FACTOR_LINK procedure

ADD_POLICY_FACTOR

Specifies that the label for a factor contributes to the Oracle Label Security label for a policy, through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.ADD_POLICY_FACTOR procedure

DELETE_POLICY_FACTOR

Removes factor label from being associated with an Oracle Label Security label for a policy, through the DBMS_MACADM.DELETE_POLICY_FACTOR procedure

CREATE_IDENTITY

Creates a factor identity through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.CREATE_IDENTITY procedure

UPDATE_IDENTITY

Updates a factor identity through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.UPDATE_IDENTITY procedure

CHANGE_IDENTITY_FACTOR

Associates an identity with a different factor through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.CHANGE_IDENTITY_FACTOR procedure

CHANGE_IDENTITY_VALUE

Updates the value of an identity through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.CHANGE_IDENTITY_VALUE procedure

DELETE_IDENTITY

Deletes an existing factor identity through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.DELETE_IDENTITY procedure

CREATE_IDENTITY_MAP

Creates a factor identity map through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.CREATE_IDENTITY_MAP procedure

DELETE_IDENTITY_MAP

Deletes a factor identity map through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.DELETE_IDENTITY_MAP procedure

CREATE_DOMAIN_IDENTITY

Adds an Oracle Database Real Application Clusters database node to the domain factor identities and labels it according to the Oracle Label Security policy, through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.CREATE_DOMAIN_IDENTITY procedure

DROP_DOMAIN_IDENTITY

Drops an Oracle RAC node from the domain factor identities through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.DROP_DOMAIN_IDENTITY procedure

31.8.2.8 Oracle Database Vault Secure Application Role Audit Events

The unified audit trail can capture Oracle Database Vault secure application role audit events.

Table 31-9 describes these events.

Table 31-9 Oracle Database Vault Secure Application Role Audit Events

Audit Event Description

CREATE_ROLE

Creates an Oracle Database Vault secure application role through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.CREATE_ROLE procedure

DELETE_ROLE

Deletes an Oracle Database Vault secure application role through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.DELETE_ROLE procedure

UPDATE_ROLE

Updates an Oracle Database Vault secure application role through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.UPDATE_ROLE procedure

RENAME_ROLE

Renames an Oracle Database Vault secure application role through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.RENAME_ROLE procedure

31.8.2.9 Oracle Database Vault Oracle Label Security Audit Events

The unified audit trail can capture Oracle Database Vault Oracle Label Security audit events.

Table 31-10 describes these events.

Table 31-10 Oracle Database Vault Oracle Label Security Audit Events

Audit Event Description

CREATE_POLICY_LABEL

Creates an Oracle Label Security policy label through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.CREATE_POLICY_LABEL procedure

DELETE_POLICY_LABEL

Deletes an Oracle Label Security policy label through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.DELETE_POLICY_LABEL procedure

CREATE_MAC_POLICY

Specifies the algorithm that is used to merge labels when computing the label for a factor, or the Oracle Label Security Session label, through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.CREATE_MAC_POLICY procedure

UPDATE_MAC_POLICY

Changes the Oracle Label Security merge label algorithm through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.UPDATE_MAC_POLICY procedure

DELETE_MAC_POLICY_CASCADE

Deletes all Oracle Database Vault objects related to an Oracle Label Security policy, through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.DELETE_MAC_POLICY_CASCADE procedure

31.8.2.10 Oracle Database Vault Oracle Data Pump Audit Events

The unified audit trail can capture Oracle Database Vault Oracle Data Pump audit events.

Table 31-11 describes these events.

Table 31-11 Oracle Database Vault Oracle Data Pump Audit Events

Audit Event Description

AUTHORIZE_DATAPUMP_USER

Authorizes an Oracle Data Pump user through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.AUTHORIZE_DATAPUMP_USER procedure

UNAUTHORIZE_DATAPUMP_USER

Removes from authorization an Oracle Data Pump user through the DVSYS.DBMS_MACADM.UNAUTHORIZE_DATAPUMP_USER procedure

31.8.2.11 Oracle Database Vault Enable and Disable Audit Events

The unified audit trail can capture Oracle Database Vault enable and disable audit events.

Table 31-12 describes these events.

Table 31-12 Oracle Database Vault Enable and Disable Audit Events

Event Description

ENABLE_EVENT

DBMS_MACADM.ENABLE_EVENT

DISABLE_EVENT

DBMS_MACADM.DISABLE_EVENT
31.8.2.12 Configuring a Unified Audit Policy for Oracle Database Vault

The ACTIONS and ACTIONS COMPONENT clauses in the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can create unified audit policies for Oracle Database Vault events.

  • Use the following syntax to create an Oracle Database Vault unified audit policy:

    CREATE AUDIT POLICY policy_name 
 ACTIONS COMPONENT= DV DV_action ON DV_object [,DV_action2 ON DV_object2]

In this specification:

  • DV_action is one of the following:

    • Realm-related actions:

      Realm Violation audits realm violations (for example, when an unauthorized user attempts to access a realm-protected object).

      Realm Success audits when a realm-protected object is successfully accessed by an authorized user.

      Realm Access audits both realm violation and realm success cases, that is, audits whenever the realm access attempt has been made, whether the access succeeded or failed.

    • Rule set-related actions: Rule Set Failure, Rule Set Success, Rule Set Eval

    • Factor-related actions: Factor Error, Factor Null, Factor Validate Error, Factor Validate False, Factor Trust Level Null, Factor Trust Level Neg, Factor All

  • DV_objects is one of the following:

    • Realm_Name

    • Rule_Set_Name

    • Factor_Name

If the object was created in lower or mixed case, then you must enclose DV_objects in double quotation marks. If you had created the object in all capital letters, then you can omit the quotation marks.

For example, to audit realm violations on the Database Vault Account Management realm:

CREATE AUDIT POLICY audit_dv
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=DV Realm Violation ON "Database Vault Account Management";

Remember that after you create the policy, you must use the AUDIT statement to enable it.

31.8.2.13 Example: Auditing an Oracle Database Vault Realm

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit Oracle Database Vault realms.

Example 31-26 shows how to audit a realm violation on the HR schema.

Example 31-26 Auditing a Realm Violation

CREATE AUDIT POLICY dv_realm_hr 
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=DV Realm Violation ON "HR Schema Realm";

AUDIT POLICY dv_realm_hr;
31.8.2.14 Example: Auditing an Oracle Database Vault Rule Set

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit Oracle Database Vault rule sets.

Example: Auditing an Oracle Database Vault Rule Set shows how to audit the Can Maintain Accounts/Profile rule set.

Example 31-27 Auditing a Rule Set

CREATE AUDIT POLICY dv_rule_set_accts 
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=DV RULE SET FAILURE ON "Can Maintain Accounts/Profile";

AUDIT POLICY dv_rule_set_accts;
31.8.2.15 Example: Auditing Two Oracle Database Vault Events

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit multiple Oracle Database Vault events.

Example 31-28 shows how to audit a realm violation and a rule set failure.

Example 31-28 Auditing Two Oracle Database Vault Events

CREATE AUDIT POLICY audit_dv
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=DV REALM VIOLATION ON "Oracle Enterprise Manager", Rule Set
 Failure ON "Allow Sessions";

AUDIT POLICY audit_dv;
31.8.2.16 Example: Auditing Oracle Database Vault Factors

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit Oracle Database Vault factors.

Example 31-29 shows how to audit two types of errors for one factor.

Example 31-29 Auditing Oracle Database Vault Factor Settings

CREATE AUDIT POLICY audit_dv_factor
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=DV FACTOR ERROR ON "Database_Domain", Factor Validate Error ON "Client_IP";

AUDIT POLICY audit_dv_factor;
31.8.2.17 How Oracle Database Vault Audited Events Appear in the Audit Trail

The UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view lists Oracle Database Vault audited events.

The DV_* columns of the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL view show Oracle Database Vault-specific audit data.

For example: 

SELECT DBUSERNAME, SQL_TEXT, UNIFIED_AUDIT_POLICIES, DV_ACTION_NAME, DV_ACTION_OBJECT_NAME, DV_RULE_SET_NAME 
FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL 
WHERE AUDIT_TYPE = 'DATABASE VAULT' 
ORDER BY EVENT_TIMESTAMP;

DBUSERNAME SQL_TEXT                   UNIFIED_AUDIT_POLICIES DV_ACTION_NAME        DV_ACTION_OBJECT_NAME DV_RULE_SET_NAME
---------- –------------------------- –---------------------- –-------------------- –-------------------- –-----------------
PFITCH     SELECT * FROM HR.EMPLOYEES DV_AUDIT_POLICY         Command Failure Audit SELECT                HR_data_protection

31.8.3 Auditing Oracle Database Real Application Security Events

You can use CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement to audit Oracle Database Real Application Security events.

31.8.3.1 About Auditing Oracle Database Real Application Security Events

You must have the AUDIT_ADMIN role to audit Oracle Database Real Application Security events.

To access the audit trail, you can query the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view, whose Real Application Security-specific columns begin with XS_. If you want to find audit information about the internally generated VPD predicate that is created while an Oracle Real Application Security policy is being enabled, then you can query the RLS_INFO column.

Real Application Security-specific views are as follows:

  • DBA_XS_AUDIT_TRAIL provides detailed information about Real Application Security events that were audited.

  • DBA_XS_AUDIT_POLICY_OPTIONS describes the auditing options that were defined for Real Application Security unified audit policies.

  • DBA_XS_ENB_AUDIT_POLICIES lists users for whom Real Application Security unified audit polices are enabled.

31.8.3.2 Oracle Database Real Application Security Auditable Events

Oracle Database provides Real Application Security events that you can audit, such CREATE USER, UPDATE USER.

To find a list of auditable Real Application Security events that you can audit, you can query the COMPONENT and NAME columns of the AUDITABLE_SYSTEM_ACTIONS data dictionary view, as follows: 

SELECT NAME FROM AUDITABLE_SYSTEM_ACTIONS WHERE COMPONENT = 'XS';

NAME
-------------
CREATE USER
UPDATE USER
DELETE USER
...
31.8.3.3 Oracle Database Real Application Security User, Privilege, and Role Audit Events

The unified audit trail can capture Oracle Database Real Application Security events for users, privileges, and roles.

Table 31-13 describes these events.

Table 31-13 Oracle Database Real Application Security User, Privilege, and Role Audit Events

Audit Event Description

CREATE USER

Creates an Oracle Database Real Application Security user account through the XS_PRINCIPAL.CREATE_USER procedure

UPDATE USER

Updates an Oracle Database Real Application Security user account through the following procedures:

  • XS_PRINCIPAL.SET_EFFECTIVE_DATES

  • XS_PRINCIPAL.SET_USER_DEFAULT_ROLES_ALL

  • XS_PRINCIPAL.SET_USER_SCHEMA

  • XS_PRINCIPAL.SET_GUID

  • XS_PRINCIPAL.SET_USER_STATUS

  • XS_PRINCIPAL.SET_DESCRIPTION

DELETE USER

Deletes an Oracle Database Real Application Security user account through the through the XS_PRINCIPAL.DELETE_PRINCIPAL procedure

AUDIT_GRANT_PRIVILEGE

Audits the GRANT_SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE privilege

AUDIT_REVOKE_PRIVILEGE

Audits the REVOKE_SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE privilege

CREATE ROLE

Creates an Oracle Database Real Application Security role through the XS_PRINCIPAL.CREATE_ROLE procedure

UPDATE ROLE

Updates an Oracle Database Real Application Security role through the following procedures:

  • XS_PRINCIPAL.SET_DYNAMIC_ROLE_SCOPE

  • XS_PRINCIPAL.SET_DYNAMIC_ROLE_DURATION

  • XS_PRINCIPAL.SET_EFFECTIVE_DATES

  • XS_PRINCIPAL.SET_ROLE_DEFAULT

DELETE ROLE

Deletes an Oracle Database Real Application Security role through the XS_PRINCIPAL.DELETE_ROLE procedure

GRANT ROLE

Grants Oracle Database Real Application Security roles through the XS_PRINCIPAL.GRANT_ROLES procedure

REVOKE ROLE

Revokes Oracle Database Real Application Security roles through the XS_PRINCIPAL.REVOKE_ROLES procedure and revokes all granted roles through the XS_PRINCIPAL.REVOKE_ALL_GRANTED_ROLES procedure

ADD PROXY

Adds Oracle Database Real Application Security proxy user account through the XS_PRINCIPAL.ADD_PROXY_USER procedure, and adds proxies to database users through the XS_PRINCIPAL.ADD_PROXY_TO_SCHEMA procedure

REMOVE PROXY

Removes an Oracle Database Real Application Security proxy user account through the XS_PRINCIPAL.REMOVE_PROXY_USER, XS_PRINCIPAL.REMOVE_ALL_PROXY_USERS, and XS_PRINCIPAL.REMOVE_PROXY_FROM_SCHEMA PROCEDURES

SET USER PASSWORD

Sets the Oracle Database Real Application Security user account password through the XS_PRINCIPAL.SET_PASSWORD procedure

SET USER VERIFIER

Sets the Oracle Database Real Application Security proxy user account verifier through the XS_PRINCIPAL.SET_VERIFIER procedure

31.8.3.4 Oracle Database Real Application Security Security Class and ACL Audit Events

The unified audit trail can capture Oracle Database Real Application Security security class and ACL audit events.

Table 31-14 describes these events.

Table 31-14 Oracle Database Real Application Security Security Class and ACL Audit Events

Audit Event Description

CREATE SECURITY CLASS

Creates a security class through the XS_SECURITY_CLASS.CREATE_SECURITY_CLASS procedure

UPDATE SECURITY CLASS

Creates a security class through the following procedures:

  • XS_SECURITY_CLASS.SET_DEFAULT_ACL

  • XS_SECURITY_CLASS.ADD_PARENTS

  • XS_SECURITY_CLASS.REMOVE_ALL_PARENTS

  • XS_SECURITY_CLASS.REMOVE_PARENTS

  • XS_SECURITY_CLASS.ADD_PRIVILEGES

  • XS_SECURITY_CLASS.REMOVE_ALL_PRIVILEGES

  • XS_SECURITY_CLASS.ADD_IMPLIED_PRIVILEGES

  • XS_SECURITY_CLASS.REMOVE_IMPLIED_PRIVILEGES

  • XS_SECURITY_CLASS.REMOVE_ALL_IMPLIED_PRIVILEGES

  • XS_SECURITY_CLASS.SET_DESCRIPTION

DELETE SECURITY CLASS

Deletes a security class through the XS_SECURITY_CLASS.DELETE_SECURITY_CLASS procedure

CREATE ACL

Creates an Access Control List (ACL) through the XS_ACL.CREATE_ACL procedure

UPDATE ACL

Updates an ACL through the following procedures:

  • XS_ACL.APPEND_ACES

  • XS_ACL.REMOVE_ALL_ACES

  • XS_ACL.SET_SECURITY_CLASS

  • XS_ACL.SET_PARENT_ACL

  • XS_ACL.ADD_ACL_PARAMETER

  • XS_ACL.REMOVE_ALL_ACL_PARAMETERS

  • XS_ACL.REMOVE_ACL_PARAMETER

  • XS_ACL.SET_DESCRIPTION

DELETE ACL

Deletes an ACL through the XS_ACL.DELETE_ACL procedure

CREATE DATA SECURITY-

Creates a data security policy through the XS_DATA_SECURITY.CREATE_DATA_SECURITY procedure

UPDATE DATA SECURITY

Updates a data security policy through the following procedures:

  • XS_DATA_SECURITY.CREATE_ACL_PARAMETER

  • XS_DATA_SECURITY.DELETE_ACL_PARAMETER

  • XS_DATA_SECURITY.SET_DESCRIPTION

DELETE DATA SECURITY

Deletes a data security policy through the XS_DATA_SECURITY.DELETE_DATA_SECURITY procedure

ENABLE DATA SECURITY

Enables extensible data security for a database table or view through the XS_DATA_SECURITY.ENABLE_OBJECT_POLICY procedure

DISABLE DATA SECURITY

Disables extensible data security for a database table or view through the XS_DATA_SECURITY.DISABLE_XDS procedure

31.8.3.5 Oracle Database Real Application Security Session Audit Events

The unified audit trail can capture Oracle Database Real Application Security session audit events.

Table 31-13 describes these events.

Table 31-15 Oracle Database Real Application Security Session Audit Events

Audit Event Description

CREATE SESSION

Creates a session through the DBMS_XS_SESSIONS.CREATE_SESSION procedure

DESTROY SESSION

Destroys a session through the DBMS_XS_SESSIONS.DESTROY_SESSION procedure

CREATE SESSION NAMESPACE

Creates a namespace through the DBMS_XS_SESSIONS.CREATE_NAMESPACE procedure

DELETE SESSION NAMESPACE

Deletes a namespace through the DBMS_XS_SESSIONS.DELETE_NAMESPACE procedure

CREATE NAMESPACE ATTRIBUTE

Creates a namespace attribute through the DBMS_XS_SESSIONS.CREATE_ATTRIBUTE procedure

SET NAMESPACE ATTRIBUTE

Sets a namespace attribute through the DBMS_XS_SESSIONS.SET_ATTRIBUTE procedure

GET NAMESPACE ATTRIBUTE

Gets a namespace attribute through the DBMS_XS_SESSIONS.GET_ATTRIBUTE procedure

DELETE NAMESPACE ATTRIBUTE

Deletes a namespace attribute through the DBMS_XS_SESSIONS.DELETE_ATTRIBUTE procedure

CREATE NAMESPACE TEMPLATE

Creates a namespace attribute through the XS_NS_TEMPLATE.CREATE_NS_TEMPLATE procedure

UPDATE NAMESPACE TEMPLATE

Updates a namespace attribute through the following procedures:

  • XS_NS_TEMPLATE.SET_HANDLER

  • XS_NS_TEMPLATE.ADD_ATTRIBUTES

  • XS_NS_TEMPLATE.REMOVE_ALL_ATTRIBUTES

  • XS_NS_TEMPLATE.REMOVE_ATTRIBUTES

  • XS_NS_TEMPLATE.SET_DESCRIPTION

DELETE NAMESPACE TEMPLATE

Deletes a namespace through the XS_NS_TEMPLATE.DELETE_NS_TEMPLATE procedure

ADD GLOBAL CALLBACK

Adds a global callback through the DBMS_XS_SESSIONS.ADD_GLOBAL_CALLBACK procedure

DELETE GLOBAL CALLBACK

Deletes a global callback through the DBMS_XS_SESSIONS.DELETE_GLOBAL_CALLBACK procedure

ENABLE GLOBAL CALLBACK

Enables a global callback through the DBMS_XS_SESSIONS.ENABLE_GLOBAL_CALLBACK procedure

SET COOKIE

Sets a session cookie through the DBMS_XS_SESSIONS.SET_SESSION_COOKIE procedure

SET INACTIVE TIMEOUT

Sets the time-out time for inactive sessions through the DBMS_XS_SESSIONS.SET_INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT procedure

SWITCH USER

Sets the security context of the current lightweight user session to a newly initialized security context for a specified user through the DBMS_XS_SESSIONS.SWITCH_USER procedure

ASSIGN USER

Assigns or removes one or more dynamic roles for the specified user through the DBMS_XS_SESSIONS.ASSIGN_USER procedure

ENABLE ROLE

Enable a role for a lightweight user session through the DBMS_XS_SESSIONS.ENABLE_ROLE procedure

DISABLE ROLE

Disables a role for a lightweight user session through the DBMS_XS_SESSIONS.DISABLE_ROLE procedure

31.8.3.6 Oracle Database Real Application Security ALL Events

The unified audit trail can capture Oracle Database Real Application Security ALL events.

Table 31-16 describes these events.

Table 31-16 Oracle Database Real Application Security ALL Events

Audit Event Description

ALL

Captures all Real Application Security actions
31.8.3.7 Configuring a Unified Audit Policy for Oracle Database Real Application Security

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can create a unified audit policy for Oracle Real Application Security.

  • Use the following syntax to create a unified audit policy for Oracle Database Real Application Security: 

    CREATE AUDIT POLICY policy_name 
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=XS component_action1 [, action2];

For example: 

CREATE AUDIT POLICY audit_ras_pol
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=XS SWITCH USER, DISABLE ROLE;

You can build more complex policies, such as those that include conditions. Remember that after you create the policy, you must use the AUDIT statement to enable it.

31.8.3.8 Example: Auditing Real Application Security User Account Modifications

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit Real Application Security user account modifications.

Example 31-30 shows how to audit user bhurst's attempts to switch users and disable roles.

Example 31-30 Auditing Real Application Security User Account Modifications

CREATE AUDIT POLICY ras_users_pol
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=XS SWITCH USER, DISABLE ROLE;

AUDIT POLICY ras_users_pol BY bhurst;
31.8.3.9 Example: Using a Condition in a Real Application Security Unified Audit Policy

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can set a condition for a Real Application Security unified audit policy.

Example 31-31 shows how to create Real Application Security unified audit policy that applies the audit only to actions from the nemosity computer host.

Example 31-31 Using a Condition in a Real Application Security Unified Audit Policy

CREATE AUDIT POLICY ras_acl_pol
 ACTIONS DELETE ON OE.CUSTOMERS
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=XS CREATE ACL, UPDATE ACL, DELETE ACL
 WHEN 'SYS_CONTEXT(''USERENV'', ''HOST'') = ''nemosity'''
 EVALUATE PER INSTANCE;

AUDIT POLICY ras_acl_pol BY pfitch;
31.8.3.10 How Oracle Database Real Application Security Events Appear in the Audit Trail

The DBA_XS_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view lists Oracle Real Application Security audit events.

The following example queries the Real Application Security-specific view, DBA_XS_AUDIT_TRAIL: 

SELECT XS_USER_NAME FROM DBA_XS_AUDIT_TRAIL 
WHERE XS_ENABLED_ROLE = 'CLERK'; 

XS_USER_NAME
-------------
USER2

31.8.4 Auditing Oracle Recovery Manager Events

You can use the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement to audit Oracle Recovery Manager events.

31.8.4.1 About Auditing Oracle Recovery Manager Events

The UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view automatically stores Oracle Recovery Manager audit events in the RMAN_column.

Unlike other Oracle Database components, you do not create a unified audit policy for Oracle Recovery Manager events.

However, you must have the AUDIT_ADMIN or AUDIT_VIEWER role in order to query the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL view to see these events. If you have the SYSBACKUP or the SYSDBA administrative privilege, then you can find additional information about Recovery Manager jobs by querying views such as V$RMAN_STATUS or V$RMAN_BACKUP_JOB_DETAILS.

31.8.4.2 Oracle Recovery Manager Unified Audit Trail Events

The unified audit trail can capture Oracle Recovery Manager events.

Table 31-17 describes these events.

Table 31-17 Oracle Recovery Manager Columns in UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL View

Recovery Manager Column Description

RMAN_SESSION_RECID

Recovery Manager session identifier. Together with the RMAN_SESSION_STAMP column, this column uniquely identifies the Recovery Manager job. The Recovery Manager session ID is a a RECID value in the control file that identifies the Recovery Manager job. (Note that the Recovery Manager session ID is not the same as a user session ID.)

RMAN_SESSION_STAMP

Timestamp for the session. Together with the RMAN_SESSION_RECID column, this column identifies Recovery Manager jobs.

RMAN_OPERATION

The Recovery Manager operation executed by the job. One row is added for each distinct operation within a Recovery Manager session. For example, a backup job contains BACKUP as the RMAN_OPERATION value.

RMAN_OBJECT_TYPE

Type of objects involved in a Recovery Manager session. It contains one of the following values. If the Recovery Manager session does not satisfy more than one of them, then preference is given in the following order, from top to bottom of the list.

  1. DB FULL (Database Full) refers to a full backup of the database

  2. RECVR AREA refers to the Fast Recovery area

  3. DB INCR (Database Incremental) refers to incremental backups of the database

  4. DATAFILE FULL refers to a full backup of the data files

  5. DATAFILE INCR refers to incremental backups of the data files

  6. ARCHIVELOG refers to archived redo log files

  7. CONTROLFILE refers to control files

  8. SPFILE refers to the server parameter file

  9. BACKUPSET refers to backup files

RMAN_DEVICE_TYPE

Device associated with a Recovery Manager session. This column can be DISK, SBT (system backup tape), or * (asterisk). An asterisk indicates more than one device. In most cases, the value will be DISK and SBT.

31.8.4.3 How Oracle Recovery Manager Audited Events Appear in the Audit Trail

The UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view lists Oracle Recovery Manager audit events.

Table 31-17 lists the columns in the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view that you can query to find Oracle Recovery Manager-specific audit data.

For example: 

SELECT RMAN_OPERATION FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL 
WHERE RMAN_OBJECT_TYPE = 'DB FULL';

RMAN_OPERATION 
---------------
BACKUP

31.8.5 Auditing Oracle Label Security Events

In an Oracle Label Security environment, the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit Oracle Label Security activities.

31.8.5.1 About Auditing Oracle Label Security Events

As with all unified auditing, you must have the AUDIT_ADMIN role before you can audit Oracle Label Security (OLS) events.

To create Oracle Label Security unified audit policies, you must set the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement COMPONENT clause to OLS.

To audit user session label information, you use the AUDIT statement to audit application context values.

To access the audit trail, you can query the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view. This view contains Oracle Label Security-specific columns whose names begin with OLS_. If you want to find audit information about the internally generated VPD predicate that is created when you apply an Oracle Label Security policy to a table, then you can query the RLS_INFO column.

31.8.5.2 Oracle Label Security Unified Audit Trail Events

The unified audit trail can capture Oracle Label Security audit events.

To find a list of auditable Oracle Label Security events that you can audit, you can query the COMPONENT and NAME columns of the AUDITABLE_SYSTEM_ACTIONS data dictionary view.

For example:

SELECT NAME FROM AUDITABLE_SYSTEM_ACTIONS WHERE COMPONENT = 'Label Security';

NAME
-------------
CREATE POLICY
ALTER POLICY
DROP POLICY
...

Table 31-18 describes the Oracle Label Security audit events.

Table 31-18 Oracle Label Security Audit Events

Audit Event Description

CREATE POLICY

Creates an Oracle Label Security policy through the SA_SYSDBA.CREATE_POLICY procedure

ALTER POLICY

Alters an Oracle Label Security policy through the SA_SYSDBA.ALTER_POLICY procedure

DROP POLICY

Drops an Oracle Label Security policy through the SA_SYSDBA.DROP_POLICY procedure

APPLY POLICY

Applies a table policy through the SA_POLICY_ADMIN.APPLY_TABLE_POLICY procedure or a schema policy through the SA_POLICY_ADMIN.APPLY_SCHEMA_POLICY procedure

REMOVE POLICY

Removes a table policy through the SA_POLICY_ADMIN.REMOVE_TABLE_POLICY procedure or a schema policy through the SA_POLICY_ADMIN.REMOVE_SCHEMA_POLICY procedure

SET AUTHORIZATION

Covers all Oracle Label Security authorizations, including Oracle Label Security privileges and user labels to either users or trusted stored procedures. The PL/SQL procedures that correspond to the SET AUTHORIZATION event are SA_USER_ADMIN.SET_USER_LABELS, SA_USER_ADMIN.SET_USER_PRIVS, and SA_USER_ADMIN.SET_PROG_PRIVS.

PRIVILEGED ACTION

Covers any action that requires the user of an Oracle Label Security privilege. These actions are logons, SA_SESSION.SET_ACCESS_PROFILE executions, and the invocation of trusted stored procedures.

ENABLE POLICY

Enables an Oracle Label Security policy through the following procedures:

  • SA_SYSDBA.ENABLE_POLICY: Enforces access control on the tables and schemas protected by the policy

  • SA_POLICY_ADMIN.ENABLE_TABLE_POLICY: Enables an Oracle Label Security policy for a specified table

  • SA_POLICY_ADMIN.ENABLE_SCHEMA_POLICY: Enables an Oracle Label Security policy for all the tables in a specified schema

DISABLE POLICY

Disables an Oracle Label Security policy through the following procedures:

  • SA_SYSDBA.DISABLE_POLICY: Disables the enforcement of an Oracle Label Security policy

  • SA_POLICY_ADMIN.DISABLE_TABLE_POLICY: Disables the enforcement an Oracle Label Security policy for a specified table

  • SA_POLICY_ADMIN.DISABLE_SCHEMA_POLICY: Disables the enforcement of an Oracle Label Security policy for all the tables in a specified schema

CREATE DATA LABEL

Creates an Oracle Label Security data label through the SA_LABEL_ADMIN.CREATE_LABEL procedure. CREATE DATA LABEL also corresponds to the LBACSYS.TO_DATA_LABEL function.

ALTER DATA LABEL

Alters an Oracle Label Security data label through the SA_LABEL_ADMIN.ALTER_LABEL procedure

DROP DATA LABEL

Drops an Oracle Label Security data label through the SA_LABEL_ADMIN.DROP_LABEL procedure

CREATE LABEL COMPONENT

Creates an Oracle Label Security component through the following procedures:

  • Levels: SA_COMPONENTS.CREATE_LEVEL

  • Compartments: SA_COMPONENTS.CREATE_COMPARTMENT

  • Groups: SA_COMPONENTS.CREATE_GROUP

ALTER LABEL COMPONENTS

Alters an Oracle Label Security component through the following procedures:

  • Levels: SA_COMPONENTS.ALTER_LEVEL

  • Compartments: SA_COMPONENTS.ALTER_COMPARTMENT

  • Groups: SA_COMPONENTS.ALTER_GROUP and SA_COMPONENTS.ALTER_GROUP_PARENT

DROP LABEL COMPONENTS

Drops an Oracle Label Security component through the following procedures:

  • Levels: SA_COMPONENTS.DROP_LEVEL

  • Compartments: SA_COMPONENTS.DROP_COMPARTMENT

  • Groups: SA_COMPONENTS.DROP_GROUP

ALL

Enables auditing of all Oracle Label Security actions
31.8.5.3 Oracle Label Security Auditable User Session Labels

The ORA_OLS_SESSION_LABELS application context can capture user session label usage for each Oracle Database event.

The attributes used by this application context refer to Oracle Label Security policies. .

The syntax is the same as the syntax used for application context auditing. For example: 

AUDIT CONTEXT NAMESPACE ORA_SESSION_LABELS ATTRIBUTES policy1, policy2;

Because the recording of session labels is not user-session specific, the BY user_list clause is not required for auditing Oracle Label Security application contexts.

To disable the auditing of user session label information, you use the NOAUDIT statement. For example, to stop auditing for policies policy1 and policy2, enter the following statement: 

NOAUDIT CONTEXT NAMESPACE ORA_SESSION_LABELS ATTRIBUTES policy1, policy2;
31.8.5.4 Configuring a Unified Audit Policy for Oracle Label Security

The ACTIONS and ACTIONS COMPONENT clauses in the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can be used to create Oracle Label Security event audit policies.

  • Use the following syntax to create an Oracle Label Security unified audit policy: 

    CREATE AUDIT POLICY policy_name 
 ACTIONS action1 [,action2 ]
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=OLS component_action1 [, action2];

For example: 

CREATE AUDIT POLICY audit_ols
 ACTIONS SELECT ON OE.ORDERS
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=OLS ALL;

You can build more complex policies, such as those that include conditions. Remember that after you create the policy, you must use the AUDIT statement to enable it.

31.8.5.5 Example: Auditing Oracle Label Security Session Label Attributes

The AUDIT CONTEXT NAMESPACE statement can audit Oracle Label Security session label attributes.

Example 31-32 shows how to audit ORA_OLS_SESSION_LABELS application context attributes for the Oracle Label Security policies usr_pol1 and usr_pol2.

Example 31-32 Auditing Oracle Label Security Session Label Attributes

AUDIT CONTEXT NAMESPACE ORA_SESSION_LABELS ATTRIBUTES usr_pol1, usr_pol2;
31.8.5.6 Example: Excluding a User from an Oracle Label Security Policy

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can exclude users from policies.

Example 31-33 shows how to create a unified audit policy that excludes actions from user ols_mgr.

Example 31-33 Excluding a User from an Oracle Label Security Policy

CREATE AUDIT POLICY auth_ols_audit_pol
 ACTIONS SELECT ON HR.EMPLOYEES
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=OLS DROP POLICY, DISABLE POLICY;

AUDIT POLICY auth_ols_audit_pol EXCEPT ols_mgr;
31.8.5.7 Example: Auditing Oracle Label Security Policy Actions

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit Oracle Label Security policy actions.

Example 31-34 shows how to audit the DROP POLICY and DISABLE POLICY events, and UPDATE and DELETE statements on the HR.EMPLOYEES table. Then this policy is applied to the HR and LBACSYS users, and audit records are written to the unified audit trail only when the audited actions are successful.

Example 31-34 Auditing Oracle Label Security Policy Actions

CREATE AUDIT POLICY generic_audit_pol
 ACTIONS UPDATE ON HR.EMPLOYEES, DELETE ON HR.EMPLOYEES
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=OLS DROP POLICY, DISABLE POLICY;

AUDIT POLICY generic_audit_pol BY HR, LBACSYS WHENEVER SUCCESSFUL;
31.8.5.8 Example: Querying for Audited OLS Session Labels

The LBACSYS.ORA_GET_AUDITED_LABEL function can be used in a UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL query to find audited Oracle Label Security session labels.

Example 31-35 shows how to use the LBACSYS.ORA_GET_AUDITED_LABEL function in a UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view query.

Example 31-35 Querying for Audited Oracle Label Security Session Labels

SELECT ENTRY_ID, SESSIONID,
       LBACSYS.ORA_GET_AUDITED_LABEL( APPLICATION_CONTEXTS,'GENERIC_AUDIT_POL1') AS  SESSION_LABEL1,
       LBACSYS.ORA_GET_AUDITED_LABEL( APPLICATION_CONTEXTS,'GENERIC_AUDIT_POL2') AS  SESSION_LABEL2
FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL;
/

ENTRY_ID  SESSIONID  SESSION_LABEL1  SESSION_LABEL2
--------  ---------  --------------  --------------
       1       1023  SECRET          LEVEL_ALPHA
       2       1024  TOP_SECRET      LEVEL_BETA
31.8.5.9 How Oracle Label Security Audit Events Appear in the Audit Trail

The UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view lists Oracle Label Security audit events.

The OLS_* columns of the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL view show Oracle Label Security-specific audit data. For example: 

SELECT OLS_PRIVILEGES_USED FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL WHERE DBUSERNAME = 'psmith';

OLS_PRIVILEGES_USED
-------------------
READ
WRITEUP
WRITEACROSS

The session labels that the audit trail captures are stored in the APPLICATION_CONTEXTS column of the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL view. You can use the LBACSYS.ORA_GET_AUDITED_LABEL function to retrieve session labels that are stored in the APPLICATION_CONTEXTS column. This function accepts the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL.APPLICATION_CONTEXTS column value, and the Oracle Label Security policy name as arguments, and then returns the session label that is stored in the column for the specified policy.

31.8.6 Auditing Oracle Data Pump Events

You can use the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement to audit Oracle Data Pump.

31.8.6.1 About Auditing Oracle Data Pump Events

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement COMPONENT clause must be set to DATAPUMP to create Oracle Data Pump unified audit policies.

You can audit Data Pump export (expdp) and import (impdp) operations.

As with all unified auditing, you must have the AUDIT_ADMIN role before you can audit Oracle Data Pump events.

To access the audit trail, query the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view. The Data Pump-specific columns in this view begin with DP_.

Related Topics

31.8.6.2 Oracle Data Pump Unified Audit Trail Events

The unified audit trail can capture Oracle Data Pump events.

The unified audit trail captures information about both export (expdp) and import (impdp) operations.

31.8.6.3 Configuring a Unified Audit Policy for Oracle Data Pump

The ACTIONS COMPONENT clause in the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can be used to create an Oracle Data Pump event unified audit policy.

  • Use the following syntax to create a unified audit policy for Oracle Data Pump: 

    CREATE AUDIT POLICY policy_name 
ACTIONS COMPONENT=DATAPUMP { EXPORT | IMPORT | ALL };

For example: 

CREATE AUDIT POLICY audit_dp_export_pol
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=DATAPUMP EXPORT;

You can build more complex policies, such as those that include conditions. Remember that after you create the policy, you must use the AUDIT statement to enable it.

31.8.6.4 Example: Auditing Oracle Data Pump Import Operations

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit Oracle Data Pump import operations.

Example 31-36 shows how to audit all Oracle Data Pump import operations.

Example 31-36 Auditing Oracle Data Pump Import Operations

CREATE AUDIT POLICY audit_dp_import_pol
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=DATAPUMP IMPORT;

AUDIT POLICY audit_dp_import_pol;
31.8.6.5 Example: Auditing All Oracle Data Pump Operations

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit all Oracle Data Pump operations.

Example 31-37 shows how to audit both Oracle Database Pump export and import operations.

Example 31-37 Auditing All Oracle Data Pump Operations

CREATE AUDIT POLICY audit_dp_all_pol
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=DATAPUMP ALL;

AUDIT POLICY audit_dp_all_pol BY SYSTEM;
31.8.6.6 How Oracle Data Pump Audit Events Appear in the Audit Trail

The UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view lists Oracle Data Pump audited events.

The DP_* columns of the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL view show Oracle Data Pump-specific audit data. For example: 

SELECT DP_TEXT_PARAMETERS1, DP_BOOLEAN_PARAMETERS1, DP_WARNINGS1 FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL
WHERE AUDIT_TYPE = 'DATAPUMP';

DP_TEXT_PARAMETERS1                            DP_BOOLEAN_PARAMETERS1  DP_WARNINGS1
---------------------------------------------- ----------------------- –--------------------------------------------------------------------------

MASTER TABLE:  "SCOTT"."SYS_EXPORT_TABLE_01",  MASTER_ONLY: FALSE,     No warnings issued
JOB_TYPE: EXPORT,                              DATA_ONLY: FALSE,       
METADATA_JOB_MODE: TABLE_EXPORT,               METADATA_ONLY: FALSE,
JOB VERSION: 23.1.0.0,                         DUMPFILE_PRESENT: TRUE, 
ACCESS METHOD: DIRECT_PATH,                    JOB_RESTARTED: FALSE 
DATA OPTIONS: 0,                               ENCRYPTED: TRUE
DUMPER DIRECTORY: NULL  
REMOTE LINK: NULL, 
TABLE EXISTS: NULL, 
PARTITION OPTIONS: NONE
SCHEMA: SCOTT

(This output was reformatted for easier readability.)

31.8.7 Auditing Oracle SQL*Loader Direct Load Path Events

You can use the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement to audit Oracle SQL*Loader direct load path events.

31.8.7.1 About Auditing in Oracle SQL*Loader Direct Path Load Events

You must have the AUDIT_ADMIN role to audit Oracle SQL*Loader direct path events.

To create SQL*Loader unified audit policies, you must set the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement's COMPONENT clause to DIRECT_LOAD. You can audit direct path load operations only, not other SQL*Loader loads, such as conventional path loads.

To access the audit trail, you can query the DIRECT_PATH_NUM_COLUMNS_LOADED column in the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view.

Related Topics

31.8.7.2 Oracle SQL*Loader Direct Load Path Unified Audit Trail Events

The unified audit trail can capture SQL*Loader Direct Load Path events.

The unified audit trail captures information about direct path loads that SQL*Loader performs (that is, when you set direct=true on the SQL*Loader command line or in the SQL*Loader control file).

It also audits Oracle Call Interface (OCI) programs that use the direct path API.

Related Topics

31.8.7.3 Configuring a Unified Audit Trail Policy for Oracle SQL*Loader Direct Path Events

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement ACTIONS COMPONENT clause can create unified audit policies for Oracle SQL*Loader direct path events.

  • Use the following syntax to create an Oracle SQL*Loader unified audit policy: 

    CREATE AUDIT POLICY policy_name 
ACTIONS COMPONENT=DIRECT_LOAD { LOAD };

For example: 

CREATE AUDIT POLICY audit_sqlldr_pol
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=DIRECT_LOAD LOAD;

You can build more complex policies, such as those that include conditions. Remember that after you create the policy, you must use the AUDIT statement to enable it.

31.8.7.4 Example: Auditing Oracle SQL*Loader Direct Path Load Operations

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit Oracle SQL*Loader direct path load operations.

Example 31-36 shows how to audit SQL*Loader direct path load operations.

Example 31-38 Auditing Oracle SQL*Loader Direct Path Load Operations

CREATE AUDIT POLICY audit_sqlldr_load_pol
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=DIRECT_LOAD LOAD;

AUDIT POLICY audit_sqlldr_load_pol;
31.8.7.5 How SQL*Loader Direct Path Load Audited Events Appear in the Audit Trail

The UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view lists SQL*Loader direct path load audited events.

The DIRECT_PATH_NUM_COLUMNS_LOADED column of the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL view shows the number of columns that were loaded using the SQL*Loader direct path load method. For example: 

SELECT DBUSERNAME, ACTION_NAME, OBJECT_SCHEMA, OBJECT_NAME, DIRECT_PATH_NUM_COLUMNS_LOADED FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL WHERE AUDIT_TYPE = 'DIRECT PATH API';

DBUSERNAME  ACTION_NAME OBJECT_SCHEMA OBJECT_NAME  DIRECT_PATH_NUM_COLUMNS_LOADED
----------- ----------- ------------- ------------ ------------------------------
RLAYTON     INSERT       HR            EMPLOYEES    4

31.8.8 Auditing Oracle XML DB HTTP and FTP Protocols

You can use the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement to audit Oracle XML DB HTTP and FTP protocol messages.

31.8.8.1 About Auditing Oracle XML DB HTTP and FTP Protocols

You must have the AUDIT_ADMIN role to audit Oracle XDB HTTP and FTP protocol messages.

Oracle Database can audit all or failed HTTP messages, 401 AUTH HTTP return code messages, and all or failed FTP messages. The UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view captures the result of the audit in the PROTOCOL_* columns.

Be aware that a unified audit policy for HTTP and FTP protocols can affect performance.

31.8.8.2 Configuring a Unified Audit Policy to Capture Oracle XML DB HTTP and FTP Protocols

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can create a unified audit policy for Oracle XML DB HTTP and FTP protocols.

  • Use the following syntax to create a unified audit policy for Oracle XML DB HTTP and FTP protocols:
    CREATE AUDIT POLICY policy_name
ACTIONS COMPONENT=PROTOCOL [ HTTP | FTP | AUTHENTICATION];

    In this specification:

    • HTTP enabling auditing of Oracle XML DB HTTP messages.
    • FTP enables auditing of Oracle XML DB FTP messages.
    • AUTHENTICATION enables auditing of HTTP 401 AUTH messages.

    For example:

    CREATE AUDIT POLICY http_pol
ACTIONS COMPONENT=PROTOCOL HTTP;
31.8.8.3 Example: Auditing Failed Oracle XML DB HTTP Messages

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit failed Oracle XML DB HTTP messages.

Example 31-39 shows an example of creating and enabling a unified audit policy that tracks failed HTTP messages.

Example 31-39 Auditing Failed Oracle XML DB HTTP Messages

CREATE AUDIT POLICY failed_http_pol
ACTIONS COMPONENT=PROTOCOL HTTP;

AUDIT POLICY failed_http_pol WHENEVER NOT SUCCESSFUL;
31.8.8.4 Example: Auditing All Oracle XML DB FTP Messages

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit all Oracle XML DB FTP messages.

Example 31-40 shows an example of creating and enabling a unified audit policy that tracks all FTP messages.

Example 31-40 Auditing All Oracle XML DB FTP Messages

CREATE AUDIT POLICY all_ftp_pol
ACTIONS COMPONENT=PROTOCOL FTP;

AUDIT POLICY all_ftp_pol;
31.8.8.5 Example: Auditing Oracle XML DB HTTP Messages That Have 401 AUTH Errors

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit HTTP messages that have 401 AUTH errors.

Example 31-41 shows an example of creating and enabling a unified audit policy that tracks 401 AUTH messages. When you enable this type of policy, you can set it without using the WHENEVER clause or set it using the WHENEVER SUCCESSFUL clause. Using a WHENEVER NOT SUCCESSFUL will not audit 401 AUTH errors.

Example 31-41 Auditing Oracle XML DB HTTP Messages with 401 AUTH Errors

CREATE AUDIT POLICY 401_error_pol
ACTIONS COMPONENT=PROTOCOL AUTHENTICATION;

AUDIT POLICY 401_error_pol;
31.8.8.6 How the Unified Audit Trail Captures Oracle XML DB HTTP and FTP Protocol Messages

The UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view lists Oracle XML DB HTTP and FTP protocol messages.

The PROTOCOL_* columns capture HTTP- and FTP-specific information such as the session ID, the return code, the type of request, and the text of the request or reply.

For example, the following query shows that the HTTP-GET request/reply had a return code of 207, which means the reply may have multiple components with separate return codes: 

SELECT PROTOCOL_RETURN_CODE, PROTOCOL_ACTION_NAME 
FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_POLICY 
WHERE USERHOST = "HR_SRV"; 

PROTOCOL_RETURN_CODE  PROTOCOL_ACTION_NAME
–-------------------  –-------------------
207                   HTTP-GET-CMD
207                   HTTP-GET

31.8.9 Auditing Oracle Machine Learning for SQL Events

You can use the CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement to audit Oracle Machine Learning for SQL events.

31.8.9.1 About Auditing Oracle Machine Learning for SQL Events

You must have the AUDIT_ADMIN role to audit Oracle Machine Learning for SQL events.

To access the audit trail, you can query the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view.

31.8.9.2 Oracle Machine Learning for SQL Unified Audit Trail Events

The unified audit trail can capture Oracle Machine Learning for SQL audit events..

Table 31-19 describes these events.

Table 31-19 Oracle Machine Learning for SQL Audit Events

Audit Event Description

AUDIT

Generates an audit record for a Oracle Machine Learning for SQL model

COMMENT

Adds a comment to a Oracle Machine Learning for SQL model

GRANT

Gives permission to a user to access the Oracle Machine Learning for SQL model

RENAME

Changes the name of the Oracle Machine Learning for SQL model

SELECT

Applies the Oracle Machine Learning for SQL model or view its signature
31.8.9.3 Configuring a Unified Audit Policy for Oracle Machine Learning for SQL

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement ACTIONS and ON MINING MODEL clauses can be used to create Oracle Machine Learning for SQL event unified audit policies.

  • Use the following syntax to create a unified audit policy for Oracle Machine Learning for SQL:

    CREATE AUDIT POLICY policy_name 
ACTIONS {operation | ALL} 
ON MINING MODEL schema_name.model_name;

For example:

CREATE AUDIT POLICY dm_ops ACTIONS RENAME ON MINING MODEL hr.dm_emp;

You can build more complex policies, such as those that include conditions. Remember that after you create the policy, you must use the AUDIT statement to enable it.

31.8.9.4 Example: Auditing Multiple Oracle Machine Learning for SQL Operations by a User

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit multiple Oracle Machine Learning for SQL operations.

Example 31-42 shows how to audit multiple Oracle Machine Learning for SQL operations by user psmith. Include the ON MINING MODEL schema_name.model_name clause for each event, and separate each with a comma. This example specifies the same schema_name.model name for both actions, but the syntax enables you to specify different schema_name.model_name settings for different schemas and data models.

Example 31-42 Auditing Multiple Oracle Machine Learning for SQL Operations by a User

CREATE AUDIT POLICY dm_ops_pol 
ACTIONS SELECT ON MINING MODEL dmuser1.nb_model, ALTER ON MINING MODEL dmuser1.nb_model;

AUDIT POLICY dm_ops_pol BY psmith;
31.8.9.5 Example: Auditing All Failed Oracle Machine Learning for SQL Operations by a User

The CREATE AUDIT POLICY statement can audit failed Oracle Machine Learning for SQL operations by a user.

Example 31-43 shows how to audit all failed Oracle Machine Learning for SQL operations by user psmith.

Example 31-43 Auditing All Failed Oracle Machine Learning for SQL Operations by a User

CREATE AUDIT POLICY dm_all_ops_pol ACTIONS ALL ON MINING MODEL dmuser1.nb_model;

AUDIT POLICY dm_all_ops_pol BY psmith WHENEVER NOT SUCCESSFUL;
31.8.9.6 How Oracle Machine Learning for SQL Events Appear in the Audit Trail

The UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view lists Oracle Machine Learning for SQL audit events.

The following example shows how to query the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view for Machine Learning for SQL audit events. 

SELECT DBUSERNAME, ACTION_NAME, SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_USED, RETURN_CODE,
OBJECT_SCHEMA, OBJECT_NAME, SQL_TEXT
FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL;

DBUSERNAME ACTION_NAME          SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_USED     RETURN_CODE
---------- -------------------- ------------------------- -----------
OBJECT_SCHEMA        OBJECT_NAME
-------------------- --------------------
SQL_TEXT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DMUSER1    CREATE MINING MODEL  CREATE MINING MODEL                 0
DMUSER1
BEGIN
  dbms_data_mining.create_model(model_name => 'nb_model',
                mining_function => dbms_data_mining.classification,
                data_table_name => 'dm_data',
                case_id_column_name => 'case_id',
                target_column_name => 'target');
END;
 
DMUSER1    SELECT MINING MODEL                                      0
DMUSER1              NB_MODEL
select prediction(nb_model using *) from dual
 
DMUSER2    SELECT MINING MODEL                                  40284
DMUSER1              NB_MODEL
select prediction(dmuser1.nb_model using *) from dual
 
DMUSER1    ALTER MINING MODEL                                       0
DMUSER1              NB_MODEL
BEGIN dbms_data_mining.rename_model('nb_model', 'nb_model1'); END;
 
 
DMUSER2    ALTER MINING MODEL                                   40284
DMUSER1              NB_MODEL
BEGIN dbms_data_mining.rename_model('dmuser1.nb_model1', 'nb_model'); END;
 
 
DMUSER2    ALTER MINING MODEL                                   40284
DMUSER1              NB_MODEL
BEGIN dbms_data_mining.rename_model('dmuser1.nb_model1', 'nb_model'); END;

31.9 Managing Unified Audit Policies

After you create a unified audit policy, you must enable it. You can alter disable, and drop unified audit policies.

31.9.1 Altering Unified Audit Policies

You can use the ALTER AUDIT POLICY statement to modify a unified audit policy.

31.9.1.1 About Altering Unified Audit Policies

You can change most properties in a unified audit policy, except for its CONTAINER setting.

You cannot alter unified audit policies in a multitenant environment. For example, you cannot turn a common unified audit policy into a local unified audit policy.

To find existing unified audit policies, query the AUDIT_UNIFIED_POLICIES data dictionary view. If you want to find only the enabled unified audit policies, then query the AUDIT_UNIFIED_ENABLED_POLICIES view. You can alter both enabled and disabled audit policies. If you alter an enabled audit policy, it remains enabled after you alter it.

After you alter an object unified audit policy, the new audit settings take place immediately, for both the active and subsequent user sessions. If you alter system audit options, or audit conditions of the policy, then they are activated for new user sessions, but not the current user session.

31.9.1.2 Altering a Unified Audit Policy

The ALTER AUDIT POLICY statement can modify a unified audit policy.

  • Use the following syntax to alter a unified audit policy, you use the ALTER AUDIT POLICY statement.
    ALTER AUDIT POLICY  policy_name
[ADD [privilege_audit_clause][action_audit_clause]
  [role_audit_clause] [ONLY TOPLEVEL] ]
[DROP [privilege_audit_clause][action_audit_clause]
    [role_audit_clause] [ONLY TOPLEVEL]] 
[CONDITION {DROP | audit_condition EVALUATE PER {STATEMENT|SESSION|INSTANCE}}]

    In this specification:

    • ADD enables you to alter the following the following settings:

      • privilege_audit_clause describes privilege-related audit options. The detailed syntax for configuring privilege audit options is as follows: 

        ADD privilege_audit_clause  :=  PRIVILEGES  privilege1 [, privilege2]

      • action_audit_clause and standard_actions describe object action-related audit options. The syntax is as follows: 

        ADD action_audit_clause := {standard_actions | component_actions}
                                         [, component_actions ]
standard_actions :=
     ACTIONS action1 [ ON {schema.obj_name
                                          | DIRECTORY directory_name
                                          | MINING MODEL schema.obj_name
                                           }
                ] 
           [, action2 [ ON {schema.obj_name
                                          | DIRECTORY directory_name
                                          | MINING MODEL schema.obj_name  
                   }
                ]

      • role_audit_clause enables you to add or drop the policy for roles. The syntax is: 

        ADD role_audit_clause := ROLES role1 [, role2]
      • ONLY TOPLEVEL includes in the unified audit trail only the top-level SQL statements that are affected by this policy.

    • DROP enables you to drop the same components that are described for the ADD clause. For example: 

      DROP role_audit_clause := ROLES role1 [, role2 ONLY TOPLEVEl]

    • CONDITION {DROP... enables you to add or drop a condition for the policy. If you are altering an existing condition, then you must include the EVALUATE PER clause with the condition. The syntax is: 

      CONDITION 'audit_condition := function operation value_list'
EVALUATE PER {STATEMENT|SESSION|INSTANCE}

      If you want to drop a condition, then omit the condition definition and the EVALUATE PER clause. For example: 

      CONDITION DROP
31.9.1.3 Example: Altering a Condition in a Unified Audit Policy

The ALTER AUDIT POLICY statement can alter conditions in unified audit policies.

Example 31-44 shows how to change a condition in an existing unified audit policy.

Example 31-44 Altering a Condition in a Unified Audit Policy

ALTER AUDIT POLICY orders_unified_audpol
 ADD ACTIONS INSERT ON SCOTT.EMP
CONDITION 'SYS_CONTEXT(''ENTERPRISE'', ''GROUP'') =  ''ACCESS_MANAGER'''
EVALUATE PER SESSION;
31.9.1.4 Example: Altering an Oracle Label Security Component in a Unified Audit Policy

The ALTER AUDIT POLICY statement can alter Oracle Label Security components in an audit policy.

Example 31-45 shows how to alter an Oracle Label Security component in an audit policy.

Example 31-45 Altering an Oracle Label Security Component in a Unified Audit Policy

ALTER AUDIT POLICY audit_ols
 ADD ACTIONS SELECT ON HR.EMPLOYEES
 ACTIONS COMPONENT=OLS DROP POLICY, DISABLE POLICY, REMOVE POLICY;
31.9.1.5 Example: Altering Roles in a Unified Audit Policy

The ALTER AUDIT POLICY statement can alter roles in a unified audit policy.

Example 31-46 shows how to add roles to a common unified audit policy.

Example 31-46 Altering Roles in a Unified Audit Policy

CONNECT c##sec_admin
Enter password: password
Connected.

ALTER AUDIT POLICY RoleConnectAudit 
 ADD ROLES c##role1, c##role2;
31.9.1.6 Example: Dropping a Condition from a Unified Audit Policy

The ALTER AUDIT POLICY statement can drop a condition from a unified audit policy.

Example 31-47 shows how to drop a condition from an existing unified audit policy.

Example 31-47 Dropping a Condition from a Unified Audit Policy

ALTER AUDIT POLICY orders_unified_audpol
CONDITION DROP;
31.9.1.7 Example: Altering an Existing Unified Audit Policy Top-Level Statement Audits

The ALTER AUDIT POLICY statement can modify an existing unified audit policy so that the unified audit trail captures top-level SQL statements only.

The following example shows how to modify the orders_unified_audpol policy to capture only top-level SQL statements.

Example 31-48 Altering an Existing Unified Audit Policy to Audit for Top-Level Statements

ALTER AUDIT POLICY orders_unified_audpol ADD ONLY TOPLEVEL;

Similarly, to remove the top-level SQL statement audit, use the DROP clause: 

ALTER AUDIT POLICY orders_unified_audpol DROP ONLY TOPLEVEL;

31.9.2 Enabling and Applying Unified Audit Policies to Users and Roles

You can use the AUDIT POLICY statement to enable and apply unified audit policies to users and roles.

31.9.2.1 About Enabling Unified Audit Policies

The AUDIT statement with the POLICY clause enables a unified audit policy, applying for all types of audit options, including object-level options.

The policy is enabled immediately in the current session and in any ongoing active sessions, including sessions for other users who are logged in.

You can enable the audit policy for individual users or for roles. Enabling the audit policy for roles allows you to enable the policy for a group of users who have been directly granted the role. When the role has been directly granted to a new user, then the policy automatically applies to the user. When the role is revoked from a user, then the policy no longer applies to the user.

You can check the results of the audit by querying the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view. To find a list of existing unified audit policies, query the AUDIT_UNIFIED_POLICIES data dictionary view.

The AUDIT statement lets you specify the following optional additional settings:

  • Whether to apply the unified audit policy to one or more users or roles.To apply the policy to one or more users or roles, including administrative users who log in with the SYSDBA administrative privilege (such as SYS), use the BY clause. For example, to apply the policy to users SYS and SYSTEM:

    For example, to apply the policy to two users: 

    AUDIT POLICY role_connect_audit_pol BY SYS, SYSTEM;

    To apply a policy to users who have been directly granted the DBA and CDB_DBA roles: 

    AUDIT POLICY admin_audit_pol BY USERS WITH GRANTED ROLES DBA, CDB_DBA;

  • Whether to exclude users from the unified audit policy. To exclude users from the audit policy, include the EXCEPT clause.

    For example:

    AUDIT POLICY role_connect_audit_pol EXCEPT rlee, jrandolph;

  • Whether to create an audit record if the activity succeeds or fails. Auditing the successes and failures of actions helps to narrow down the events that matter the most. Enter one of the following clauses:

    • WHENEVER SUCCESSFUL audits only successful executions of the user’s activity.

    • WHENEVER NOT SUCCESSFUL audits only failed executions of the user’s activity. Monitoring unsuccessful SQL statement can expose users who are snooping or acting maliciously, though most unsuccessful SQL statements are neither.

    For example: 

    AUDIT POLICY role_connect_audit_pol WHENEVER NOT SUCCESSFUL;

    If you omit this clause, then both failed and successful user activities are written to the audit trail.

Note the following:

  • The unified audit policy only can have either the BY, BY USERS WITH GRANTED ROLES, or the EXCEPT clause, but not more than one of these clauses for the same policy.

  • If you run multiple AUDIT statements on the same unified audit policy but specify different BY users or different BY USERS WITH GRANTED ROLES roles, then Oracle Database audits all of these users or roles.

  • If you run multiple AUDIT statements on the same unified audit policy but specify different EXCEPT users, then Oracle Database uses the last exception user list, not any of the users from the preceding lists. This means the effect of the earlier AUDIT POLICY ... EXCEPT statements are overridden by the latest AUDIT POLICY ... EXCEPT statement.

  • You cannot use the EXCEPT clause for roles. It applies to users only.

  • You can only enable common unified audit policies for common users or roles.

  • You can enable a common audit policy only from the root and a local audit policy only from the PDB to which it applies.

31.9.2.2 Enabling a Unified Audit Policy

The AUDIT POLICY statement can enable a unified audit policy.

  • Use the following syntax to enable a unified audit policy: 
    AUDIT POLICY { policy_auditing }
 [WHENEVER [NOT] SUCCESSFUL]

    In this specification:

    • policy_auditing refers to the following components:

      • The name of the unified audit policy. To find all existing policies, query the AUDIT_UNIFIED_POLICIES data dictionary view. To find currently enabled policies, query AUDIT_UNIFIED_ENABLED_POLICIES.

      • Users or roles to whom the unified audit policy applies. To apply the policy to one or more users (including user SYS), enter the BY clause. For example: 

        BY psmith, rlee

        To apply the policy to one or more users to whom the list of roles are directly granted, use the BY USERS WITH GRANTED ROLES clause. For example: 

        BY USERS WITH GRANTED ROLES HS_ADMIN_ROLE, HS_ADMIN_SELECT_ROLE

      • Users to exclude from the unified audit policy. To exclude one or more users from the policy, enter the EXCEPT clause. For example: 

        EXCEPT psmith, rlee

        Mandatory audit records are captured in the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view for the AUDIT POLICY SQL statement. To find users who have been excluded in the audit records, you can query the EXCLUDED_USER column in the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL view to list the excluded users.

      You cannot enable the same audit policy with the BY, BY USERS WITH GRANTED ROLES, and EXCEPT clauses in the same statement. This action throws an error for the subsequent AUDIT statement with the conflicting clause

    • WHENEVER [NOT] SUCCESSFUL enables the policy to generate audit records based on whether the user's actions failed or succeeded.

After you enable the unified audit policy and it is generating records, you can find the audit records by querying the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL data dictionary view.
31.9.2.3 Example: Enabling a Unified Audit Policy

The AUDIT POLICY statement can enable a unified audit policy using conditions, such as WHENEVER NOT SUCCESSFUL.

Example 31-49 shows how to enable a unified audit policy to record only failed actions by the user dv_admin.

Example 31-49 Enabling a Unified Audit Policy

AUDIT POLICY dv_admin_pol BY tjones
 WHENEVER NOT SUCCESSFUL;

31.9.3 Disabling Unified Audit Policies

You can use the NOAUDIT POLICY statement to disable a unified audit policy.

31.9.3.1 About Disabling Unified Audit Policies

The NOAUDIT statement with the POLICY clause can disable a unified audit policy.

In the NOAUDIT statement, you can specify a BY user or BY USERS WITH GRANTED ROLES role list, but not an EXCEPT user list. The disablement of a unified audit policy takes effect on subsequent user sessions.

You can find a list of existing unified audit policies by querying the AUDIT_UNIFIED_POLICIES data dictionary view.

You can disable a common audit policy only from the root and a local audit policy only from the PDB to which it applies.

31.9.3.2 Disabling a Unified Audit Policy

The NOAUDIT statement can disable a unified audit policy using supported audit options.

  • Use the following syntax to disable a unified audit policy: 
    NOAUDIT POLICY {policy_auditing | existing_audit_options};

    In this specification:

    • policy_auditing is the name of the policy. To find all currently enabled policies, query the AUDIT_UNIFIED_ENABLED_POLICIES data dictionary view. As part of this specification, you optionally can include the BY or BY USERS WITH GRANTED ROLES clause, but not the EXCEPT clause.

    • existing_audit_options refers to AUDIT options that were available in releases earlier than Oracle Database 12c release 1 (12.1), such as the following:

      • SELECT ANY TABLE, UPDATE ANY TABLE BY SCOTT, HR

      • UPDATE ON SCOTT.EMP

    If the unified policy had been applied to all users, then you only need to specify the policy name. For example:

    NOAUDIT POLICY logons_pol;
31.9.3.3 Example: Disabling a Unified Audit Policy

The NOAUDIT POLICY statement disable a unified audit policy using filtering, such as by user name.

Example 31-50 shows examples of how to disable a unified audit policy for a user and for a role.

Example 31-50 Disabling a Unified Audit Policy

NOAUDIT POLICY dv_admin_pol BY tjones;

NOAUDIT POLICY dv_admin_pol BY USERS WITH GRANTED ROLES emp_admin;

31.9.4 Dropping Unified Audit Policies

You can use the DROP AUDIT POLICY statement to drop a unified audit policy.

31.9.4.1 About Dropping Unified Audit Policies

The DROP AUDIT POLICY statement can be used to unified audit policies.

If a unified audit policy is already enabled for a session, the effect of dropping the policy is not seen by this existing session. Until that time, the unified audit policy's settings remain in effect. For object-related unified audit policies, however, the effect is immediate.

You can find a list of existing unified audit policies by querying the AUDIT_UNIFIED_POLICIES data dictionary view.

When you disable an audit policy before dropping it, ensure that you disable it using the same settings that you used to enable it. For example, suppose you enabled the logon_pol policy as follows: 

AUDIT POLICY logon_pol BY HR, OE;

Before you can drop it, your NOAUDIT statement must include the HR and OE users as follows: 

NOAUDIT POLICY logon_pol BY HR, OE;

You can drop a common audit policy only from the root and a local audit policy only from the PDB to which it applies.

31.9.4.2 Dropping a Unified Audit Policy

To drop a unified audit policy, you must first disable it, and then run the DROP AUDIT POLICY statement to remove it.

  • Use the following the following syntax to drop a unified audit policy: 

    DROP AUDIT POLICY policy_name;

The unified audit policy drop applies to the current PDB. If the unified audit policy was created as a common unified audit policy, then you cannot drop it from the local PDB.

31.9.4.3 Example: Disabling and Dropping a Unified Audit Policy

The NOAUDIT POLICY and DROP AUDIT POLICY statements can disable and drop a unified audit policy.

Example 31-51 shows how to disable and drop a common unified audit policy.

Example 31-51 Disabling and Dropping a Unified Audit Policy

CONNECT c##sec_admin
Enter password: password
Connected.

NOAUDIT POLICY dv_admin_pol;

DROP AUDIT POLICY dv_admin_pol

31.10 Tutorial: Auditing Nondatabase Users

Auditing nondatabase users who are typical application service accounts is crucial. They are identified in the database using the CLIENT_IDENTIFIER attribute.

31.10.1 Step 1: Create the User Accounts and Ensure the User OE Is Active

You must first create users and ensure that the user OE is active.

  1. Log in to a PDB as user SYS with the SYSDBA administrative privilege.
    sqlplus sys@pdb_name as sysdba
Enter password: password

    To find the available PDBs in a CDB, log in to the CDB root container and then query the PDB_NAME column of the DBA_PDBS data dictionary view. To check the current container, run the show con_name command.

  2. Create the local user policy_admin, who will create the fine-grained audit policy.
    CREATE USER policy_admin IDENTIFIED BY password;
GRANT CREATE SESSION, AUDIT_ADMIN TO policy_admin;

    Replace password with a password that is secure.

  3. Create the local user account auditor, who will check the audit trail for this policy. 
    CREATE USER policy_auditor IDENTIFIED BY password;
GRANT CREATE SESSION, AUDIT_VIEWER TO policy_auditor;
  4. The sample user OE will also be used in this tutorial, so query the DBA_USERS data dictionary view to ensure that OE is not locked or expired.
    SELECT USERNAME, ACCOUNT_STATUS FROM DBA_USERS WHERE USERNAME = 'OE';

    The account status should be OPEN. If the DBA_USERS view lists user OE as locked and expired, log in as user SYSTEM and then enter the following statement to unlock the OE account and create a new password: 

    ALTER USER OE ACCOUNT UNLOCK IDENTIFIED BY password;

    Replace password with a password that is secure. For greater security, do not give the OE account the same password from previous releases of Oracle Database.

Related Topics

31.10.2 Step 2: Create the Unified Audit Policy

Next, you are ready to create the unified audit policy.

  1. Connect to the PDB as user policy_admin. 
    CONNECT policy_admin@pdb_name
Enter password: password
  2. Create the following policy:
    CREATE AUDIT POLICY orders_unified_audpol 
  ACTIONS INSERT ON OE.ORDERS, UPDATE ON OE.ORDERS, DELETE ON OE.ORDERS, SELECT ON OE.ORDERS
  WHEN 'SYS_CONTEXT(''USERENV'', ''CLIENT_IDENTIFIER'') = ''robert''' 
    EVALUATE PER STATEMENT;

AUDIT POLICY orders_unified_audpol;

    In this example, the AUDIT_CONDITION parameter assumes that the nondatabase user is named robert. The policy will monitor any INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and SELECT statements that robert will attempt. Remember that the user's CLIENT_IDENTITIFER setting that you enter in the policy is case sensitive and that the policy only recognizes the case used for the identity that you specify here. In other words, later on, if the user session is set to Robert or ROBERT, the policy's condition will not be satisfied.

31.10.3 Step 3: Test the Policy

To test the policy, use OE must try to select from the OE.ORDERS table.

A unified auditing policy takes effect in the next user session for the users who are being audited. So, before their audit records can be captured, the users must connect to the database after the policy has been created.
  1. Connect as user OE and then select from the OE.ORDERS table. 
    CONNECT OE@pdb_name
Enter password: password

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM ORDERS;

    The following output appears:

      COUNT(*)
----------
       105
  2. Connect as user policy_auditor and then check if any audit records were generated.
    CONNECT policy_auditor@pdb_name
Enter password: password

col dbusername format a10
col client_identifier format a20
col sql_text format a29

SELECT DBUSERNAME, CLIENT_IDENTIFIER, SQL_TEXT FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL 
 WHERE SQL_TEXT LIKE '%FROM ORDERS%';

    The following output appears:

    no rows selected
  3. Reconnect as user OE, set the client identifier to robert, and then reselect from the OE.ORDERS table. 
    CONNECT OE@pdb_name
Enter password: password

EXEC DBMS_SESSION.SET_IDENTIFIER('robert');

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM ORDERS;

    The following output should appear:

      COUNT(*)
----------
       105
  4. Reconnect as user auditor and then check the audit trail again.
    CONNECT policy_auditor@pdb_name
Enter password: password

SELECT DBUSERNAME, CLIENT_IDENTIFIER, SQL_TEXT FROM UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL 
 WHERE SQL_TEXT LIKE '%FROM ORDERS%';

    This time, because robert has queried the OE.ORDERS table, the audit trail captures their actions: 

    DBUSERNAME CLIENT_IDENTIFIER SQL_TEXT
---------- ----------------- ----------------------------
OE         robert            SELECT COUNT(*) FROM ORDERS;

31.10.4 Step 4: Remove the Components of This Tutorial

If you no longer need the components of this tutorial, then you can remove them.

  1. Connect as user policy_admin, and then manually disable and drop the orders_unified_audpol policy. 
    CONNECT policy_admin@pdb_name
Enter password: password

NOAUDIT POLICY orders_unified_audpol;
DROP AUDIT policy orders_unified_audpol;

    (Unified audit policies reside in the SYS schema, not the schema of the user who created them.)

  2. Connect to SQL*Plus as user SYSTEM. 
    CONNECT SYSTEM@pdb_name
Enter password: password
  3. Drop users policy_admin and policy_auditor. 
    DROP USER policy_admin;
DROP USER policy_auditor;
  4. If you want, lock and expire OE, unless other users want to use this account:
    ALTER USER OE PASSWORD EXPIRE ACCOUNT LOCK;

31.11 Unified Audit Policy Data Dictionary Views

You can query data dictionary and dynamic views to find detailed auditing information about custom unified audit policies.

Table 31-20 lists these views.

Tip:

To find error information about audit policies, check the trace files. The USER_DUMP_DEST initialization parameter sets the location of the trace files.

Table 31-20 Views for Use with Custom Unified Audit Policies

View Description

ALL_AUDIT_POLICIES

Displays information about all fine-grained audit policies

ALL_DEF_AUDIT_OPTS

Lists default object-auditing options that are to be applied when objects are created

AUDIT_UNIFIED_CONTEXTS

Describes application context values that have been configured to be captured in the audit trail

AUDIT_UNIFIED_ENABLED_POLICIES

Describes all unified audit policies that are enabled in the database

AUDIT_UNIFIED_POLICIES

Describes all unified audit policies created in the database

AUDIT_UNIFIED_POLICY_COMMENTS

Shows the description of each unified audit policy, if a description was entered for the unified audit policy using the COMMENT SQL statement

AUDITABLE_SYSTEM_ACTIONS

Maps the auditable system action numbers to the action names

CDB_UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL

Similar to the UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL view, displays the audit records but from all PDBs in a multitenant environment. This view is available only in the CDB root and must be queried from there.

DBA_SA_AUDIT_OPTIONS

Describes audited Oracle Label Security events performed by users, and indicates if the user's action failed or succeeded

DBA_XS_AUDIT_TRAIL

Displays audit trail information related to Oracle Database Real Application Security

DV$CONFIGURATION_AUDIT

Displays configuration changes made by Oracle Database Vault administrators

DV$ENFORCEMENT_AUDIT

Displays user activities that are affected by Oracle Database Vault policies

SYSTEM_PRIVILEGE_MAP (table)

Describes privilege (auditing option) type codes. This table can be used to map privilege (auditing option) type numbers to type names.

UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL

Displays all audit records

Related Topics