The Cisco switch must be configured to require that when a password is changed, the characters are changed in at least eight of the positions within the password.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-220542	CISC-ND-000610	SV-220542r991921_rule		Medium

Description
If the application allows the user to consecutively reuse extensive portions of passwords, this increases the chances of password compromise by increasing the window of opportunity for attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. The number of changed characters refers to the number of changes required with respect to the total number of positions in the current password. In other words, characters may be the same within the two passwords; however, the positions of the like characters must be different. Multifactor authentication (MFA) is required for all administrative and user accounts on network devices, except for an account of last resort and (where applicable) a root account. Passwords should only be used when MFA using PKI is not available, and for the account of last resort and root account.

Description

If the application allows the user to consecutively reuse extensive portions of passwords, this increases the chances of password compromise by increasing the window of opportunity for attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. The number of changed characters refers to the number of changes required with respect to the total number of positions in the current password. In other words, characters may be the same within the two passwords; however, the positions of the like characters must be different. Multifactor authentication (MFA) is required for all administrative and user accounts on network devices, except for an account of last resort and (where applicable) a root account. Passwords should only be used when MFA using PKI is not available, and for the account of last resort and root account.

STIG	Date
Cisco IOS XE Switch NDM Security Technical Implementation Guide	2024-06-06

Details

Check Text ( C-22257r508570_chk )
Review the Cisco switch configuration to verify that it is compliant with this requirement as shown in the example below: aaa new-model ! ! aaa common-criteria policy PASSWORD_POLICY char-changes 8 If the Cisco switch is not configured to require that when a password is changed, the characters are changed in at least eight of the positions within the password, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-22246r508571_fix)
Configure the Cisco switch to enforce password complexity by requiring that when a password is changed, the characters are changed in at least eight of the positions within the password as shown in the example below: SW1(config)#aaa common-criteria policy PASSWORD_POLICY SW1(config-cc-policy)#char-changes 8 SW1(config-cc-policy)#exit