The Cisco switch must be configured to implement cryptographic mechanisms to protect the confidentiality of remote maintenance sessions.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-220556	CISC-ND-001210	SV-220556r879785_rule		High

Description
This requires the use of secure protocols instead of their unsecured counterparts, such as SSH instead of telnet, SCP instead of FTP, and HTTPS instead of HTTP. If unsecured protocols (lacking cryptographic mechanisms) are used for sessions, the contents of those sessions will be susceptible to eavesdropping, potentially putting sensitive data (including administrator passwords) at risk of compromise and potentially allowing hijacking of maintenance sessions.

Description

This requires the use of secure protocols instead of their unsecured counterparts, such as SSH instead of telnet, SCP instead of FTP, and HTTPS instead of HTTP. If unsecured protocols (lacking cryptographic mechanisms) are used for sessions, the contents of those sessions will be susceptible to eavesdropping, potentially putting sensitive data (including administrator passwords) at risk of compromise and potentially allowing hijacking of maintenance sessions.

STIG	Date
Cisco IOS XE Switch NDM Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-02-17

Details

Check Text ( C-22271r508612_chk )
Review the Cisco switch configuration to verify that it is compliant with this requirement. ip ssh version 2 ip ssh server algorithm encryption aes256-ctr aes192-ctr aes128-ctr If the switch is not configured to implement cryptographic mechanisms to protect the confidentiality of remote maintenance sessions using a FIPS 140-2 approved algorithm, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-22260r508613_fix)
Configure the Cisco switch to implement cryptographic mechanisms to protect the confidentiality of remote maintenance sessions using a FIPS 140-2 approved algorithm as shown in the example below: SW1(config)#iip ssh server algorithm encryption aes256-ctr aes192-ctr aes128-ctr