---
name: "audit_event"
section: "5"
platform: "freebsd"
package: "base"
version: "16.0-CURRENT-20261027-61c70dc16a79"
release: "FreeBSD 16.0-CURRENT (2026-10-27)"
platforms: ["freebsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/audit_event"
---

# audit\_event(5)

audit event descriptions

## NAME

**audit\_event** – audit event descriptions

## DESCRIPTION

The **audit\_event** file contains descriptions of the auditable events on the system. Each line maps an audit event number to a name, a description, and a class. Entries are of the form:

*eventnum*:*eventname*:*description*:*eventclass*

Each *eventclass* should have a corresponding entry in the [audit\_class(5)](/audit_class/5.md) file.

Example entries in this file are:

```
0:AUE_NULL:indir system call:no
1:AUE_EXIT:exit(2):pc
2:AUE_FORK:fork(2):pc
3:AUE_OPEN:open(2):fa
```

## FILES

- */etc/security/audit\_event*

  ## SEE ALSO

[audit(4)](/audit/4.md), [audit\_class(5)](/audit_class/5.md), [audit\_control(5)](/audit_control/5.md), [audit\_user(5)](/audit_user/5.md)

## HISTORY

The OpenBSM implementation was created by McAfee Research, the security division of McAfee Inc., under contract to Apple Computer Inc. in 2004. It was subsequently adopted by the TrustedBSD Project as the foundation for the OpenBSM distribution.

## AUTHORS

This software was created by McAfee Research, the security research division of McAfee, Inc., under contract to Apple Computer Inc. Additional authors include Wayne Salamon, Robert Watson, and SPARTA Inc.

The Basic Security Module (BSM) interface to audit records and audit event stream format were defined by Sun Microsystems.