The Cisco switch must be configured to have Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) unreachable messages disabled on all external interfaces.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-221000	CISC-RT-000170	SV-221000r856405_rule		Medium

Description
The ICMP supports IP traffic by relaying information about paths, routes, and network conditions. Switches automatically send ICMP messages under a wide variety of conditions. Host unreachable ICMP messages are commonly used by attackers for network mapping and diagnosis.

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

Details

Check Text ( C-22715r408794_chk )
Review the configuration to verify the no ip unreachables command has been configured on all external interfaces as shown in the configuration example below: interface GigabitEthernet0/1 ip address x.x.x.x 255.255.255.0 no ip unreachables If ICMP unreachable notifications are sent from any external or null0 interface, this is a finding. Alternative – DODIN Backbone: Verify that the PE switch is configured to rate limit ICMP unreachable messages as shown in the example below: ip icmp rate-limit unreachable 60000 ip icmp rate-limit unreachable DF 1000 Note: In the example above, packet-too-big message (ICMP Type 3 Code 4) can be sent once every second, while all other destination unreachable messages can be sent once every minute. This will avoid disrupting Path MTU Discovery for traffic traversing the backbone while mitigating the risk of an ICMP unreachable DoS attack. If the PE switch is not configured to rate limit ICMP unreachable messages, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-22715r408794_chk )

Review the configuration to verify the no ip unreachables command has been configured on all external interfaces as shown in the configuration example below:

interface GigabitEthernet0/1
ip address x.x.x.x 255.255.255.0
no ip unreachables

If ICMP unreachable notifications are sent from any external or null0 interface, this is a finding.

Alternative – DODIN Backbone:

Verify that the PE switch is configured to rate limit ICMP unreachable messages as shown in the example below:

ip icmp rate-limit unreachable 60000
ip icmp rate-limit unreachable DF 1000

Note: In the example above, packet-too-big message (ICMP Type 3 Code 4) can be sent once every second, while all other destination unreachable messages can be sent once every minute. This will avoid disrupting Path MTU Discovery for traffic traversing the backbone while mitigating the risk of an ICMP unreachable DoS attack.

If the PE switch is not configured to rate limit ICMP unreachable messages, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-22704r408795_fix)
Step 1: Disable ip unreachables on all external interfaces. SW1(config)#int g0/1 SW1(config-if)#no ip unreachables Step 2: Disable ip unreachables on the Null0 interface if it is used to backhole packets. SW1(config-if)#int null 0 SW1(config-if)#no ip unreachables Alternative – DODIN Backbone: Configure the PE switch to rate limit ICMP unreachable messages as shown in the example below: SW1(config)#ip icmp rate-limit unreachable df 100 SW1(config)#ip icmp rate-limit unreachable 100000 SW1(config)#end Alternative – Non DODIN Backbone. An alternative for non-backbone networks (i.e. enclave, base, camp, etc.) is to filter messages generated by the switch and silently drop ICMP Administratively Prohibited and Host Unreachable messages using the following configuration steps: Step 1: Configure ACL to include ICMP Type 3 Code 1 (Host Unreachable) and Code 13 (Administratively Prohibited) as shown in the example below: SW1(config)#ip access-list ext ICMP_T3C1C13 SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit icmp any any host-unreachable SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit icmp any any administratively-prohibited SW1(config-ext-nacl)#exit Step 2: Create a route map to forward these ICMP messages to the Null0 interface. SW1(config)#route-map LOCAL_POLICY SW1(config-route-map)#match ip address ICMP_T3C1C13 SW1(config-route-map)#set interface Null0 SW1(config-route-map)#exit Step 3: Configure no ip unreachables on the Null0 interface. SW1(config)#int null 0 SW1(config-if)#no ip unreachables SW1(config-if)#exit Step 4: Apply the policy to filter messages generated by the switch. SW1(config)#ip local policy route-map LOCAL_POLICY SW1(config)#end

Fix Text (F-22704r408795_fix)

Step 1: Disable ip unreachables on all external interfaces.

SW1(config)#int g0/1
SW1(config-if)#no ip unreachables

Step 2: Disable ip unreachables on the Null0 interface if it is used to backhole packets.

SW1(config-if)#int null 0
SW1(config-if)#no ip unreachables

Alternative – DODIN Backbone:

Configure the PE switch to rate limit ICMP unreachable messages as shown in the example below:

SW1(config)#ip icmp rate-limit unreachable df 100
SW1(config)#ip icmp rate-limit unreachable 100000
SW1(config)#end

Alternative – Non DODIN Backbone.

An alternative for non-backbone networks (i.e. enclave, base, camp, etc.) is to filter messages generated by the switch and silently drop ICMP Administratively Prohibited and Host Unreachable messages using the following configuration steps:

Step 1: Configure ACL to include ICMP Type 3 Code 1 (Host Unreachable) and Code 13 (Administratively Prohibited) as shown in the example below:

SW1(config)#ip access-list ext ICMP_T3C1C13
SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit icmp any any host-unreachable
SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit icmp any any administratively-prohibited
SW1(config-ext-nacl)#exit

Step 2: Create a route map to forward these ICMP messages to the Null0 interface.

SW1(config)#route-map LOCAL_POLICY
SW1(config-route-map)#match ip address ICMP_T3C1C13
SW1(config-route-map)#set interface Null0
SW1(config-route-map)#exit

Step 3: Configure no ip unreachables on the Null0 interface.

SW1(config)#int null 0
SW1(config-if)#no ip unreachables
SW1(config-if)#exit

Step 4: Apply the policy to filter messages generated by the switch.

SW1(config)#ip local policy route-map LOCAL_POLICY
SW1(config)#end