The Cisco switch must be configured to authenticate SNMP messages using a FIPS-validated Keyed-Hash Message Authentication Code (HMAC).

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-220604	CISC-ND-001130	SV-220604r521267_rule		Medium

Description
Without authenticating devices, unidentified or unknown devices may be introduced, thereby facilitating malicious activity. Bidirectional authentication provides stronger safeguards to validate the identity of other devices for connections that are of greater risk. A local connection is any connection with a device communicating without the use of a network. A network connection is any connection with a device that communicates through a network (e.g., local area or wide area network, Internet). A remote connection is any connection with a device communicating through an external network (e.g., the Internet). Because of the challenges of applying this requirement on a large scale, organizations are encouraged to only apply the requirement to those limited number (and type) of devices that truly need to support this capability.

Description

Without authenticating devices, unidentified or unknown devices may be introduced, thereby facilitating malicious activity. Bidirectional authentication provides stronger safeguards to validate the identity of other devices for connections that are of greater risk. A local connection is any connection with a device communicating without the use of a network. A network connection is any connection with a device that communicates through a network (e.g., local area or wide area network, Internet). A remote connection is any connection with a device communicating through an external network (e.g., the Internet). Because of the challenges of applying this requirement on a large scale, organizations are encouraged to only apply the requirement to those limited number (and type) of devices that truly need to support this capability.

STIG	Date
Cisco IOS Switch NDM Security Technical Implementation Guide	2021-06-02

Details

Check Text ( C-22319r507858_chk )
Review the Cisco switch configuration to verify that it authenticates SNMP messages using a FIPS-validated HMAC as shown in the example below: snmp-server group V3GROUP v3 auth read V3READ write V3WRITE snmp-server view V3READ iso included snmp-server view V3WRITE iso included snmp-server host x.x.x.x version 3 auth V3USER Authentication used by the SNMP users can be viewed via the show snmp user command as shown in the example below: R4#show snmp user User name: V3USER Engine ID: 800000090300C2042B540000 storage-type: nonvolatile active Authentication Protocol: SHA Privacy Protocol: None Group-name: V3GROUP If the Cisco switch is not configured to authenticate SNMP messages using a FIPS-validated HMAC, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-22319r507858_chk )

Review the Cisco switch configuration to verify that it authenticates SNMP messages using a FIPS-validated HMAC as shown in the example below:

snmp-server group V3GROUP v3 auth read V3READ write V3WRITE
snmp-server view V3READ iso included
snmp-server view V3WRITE iso included
snmp-server host x.x.x.x version 3 auth V3USER

Authentication used by the SNMP users can be viewed via the show snmp user command as shown in the example below:

R4#show snmp user

User name: V3USER
Engine ID: 800000090300C2042B540000
storage-type: nonvolatile active
Authentication Protocol: SHA
Privacy Protocol: None
Group-name: V3GROUP

If the Cisco switch is not configured to authenticate SNMP messages using a FIPS-validated HMAC, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-22308r507859_fix)
Configure the Cisco switch to authenticate SNMP messages as shown in the example below: SW4(config)#snmp-server group V3GROUP v3 auth read V3READ write V3WRITE SW4(config)#snmp-server user V3USER V3GROUP v3 auth sha xxxxxxx SW4(config)#snmp-server view V3READ iso included SW4(config)#snmp-server view V3WRITE iso included SW4(config)#snmp-server host x.x.x.x version 3 auth V3USER