The Cisco router must be configured to use an authentication server for the purpose of authenticating users prior to granting administrative access.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-216544	CISC-ND-001370	SV-216544r531088_rule		High

Description
Centralized management of user accounts and authentication increases the administrative access to the router. This control is particularly important protection against the insider threat. With robust centralized management, audit records for administrator account access to the organization's network devices can be more readily analyzed for trends and anomalies. The alternative method of defining administrator accounts on each device exposes the device configuration to remote access authentication attacks and system administrators with multiple authenticators for each network device.

Description

Centralized management of user accounts and authentication increases the administrative access to the router. This control is particularly important protection against the insider threat. With robust centralized management, audit records for administrator account access to the organization's network devices can be more readily analyzed for trends and anomalies. The alternative method of defining administrator accounts on each device exposes the device configuration to remote access authentication attacks and system administrators with multiple authenticators for each network device.

STIG	Date
Cisco IOS XR Router NDM Security Technical Implementation Guide	2021-03-26

Details

Check Text ( C-17779r288318_chk )
Review the Cisco router configuration to verify that the device is configured to use an authentication server as primary source for authentication as shown in the following example: radius-server host 10.1.3.16 auth-port 1645 acct-port 1646 key xxxxxxxxxx … … … aaa authentication login LOGIN_AUTHENTICATION group radius local line console login authentication LOGIN_AUTHENTICATION ! line default login authentication LOGIN_AUTHENTICATION transport input ssh If the Cisco router is not configured to use an authentication server for the purpose of authenticating users prior to granting administrative access, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-17779r288318_chk )

Review the Cisco router configuration to verify that the device is configured to use an authentication server as primary source for authentication as shown in the following example:

radius-server host 10.1.3.16 auth-port 1645 acct-port 1646
key xxxxxxxxxx
…
…
…
aaa authentication login LOGIN_AUTHENTICATION group radius local
line console
login authentication LOGIN_AUTHENTICATION
!
line default
login authentication LOGIN_AUTHENTICATION
transport input ssh

If the Cisco router is not configured to use an authentication server for the purpose of authenticating users prior to granting administrative access, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-17776r288319_fix)
Step 1: Configure the router to use an authentication server as shown in the following example: RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config)#radius-server host 10.1.3.16 key xxxxxxxx Step 2: Configure the authentication order to use the authentication server as primary source for authentication as shown in the following example: RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config)#aaa authentication login LOGIN_AUTHENTICATION group radius local Step 3: Configure all network connections associated with a device management to use an authentication server for the purpose of login authentication as shown in the following example: RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config)#line default RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config-line)#login authentication LOGIN_AUTHENTICATION RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config-line)#exit RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config)#line console RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config-line)#login authentication LOGIN_AUTHENTICATION

Fix Text (F-17776r288319_fix)

Step 1: Configure the router to use an authentication server as shown in the following example:

RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config)#radius-server host 10.1.3.16 key xxxxxxxx

Step 2: Configure the authentication order to use the authentication server as primary source for authentication as shown in the following example:

RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config)#aaa authentication login LOGIN_AUTHENTICATION group radius local

Step 3: Configure all network connections associated with a device management to use an authentication server for the purpose of login authentication as shown in the following example:

RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config)#line default
RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config-line)#login authentication LOGIN_AUTHENTICATION
RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config-line)#exit
RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config)#line console
RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config-line)#login authentication LOGIN_AUTHENTICATION