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Cisco NX OS Switch NDM Security Technical Implementation Guide

Overview

Version Date Finding Count (42) Downloads
3 2024-09-10 CAT I (High): 7 CAT II (Medium): 35 CAT III (Low): 0 Excel JSON XML
Stig Description
This Security Technical Implementation Guide is published as a tool to improve the security of Department of Defense (DOD) information systems. The requirements are derived from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-53 and related documents. Comments or proposed revisions to this document should be sent via email to the following address: disa.stig_spt@mail.mil.
Classified Public Sensitive  
I - Mission Critical Classified I - Mission Critical Public I - Mission Critical Sensitive II - Mission Critical Classified II - Mission Critical Public II - Mission Critical Sensitive III - Mission Critical Classified III - Mission Critical Public III - Mission Critical Sensitive

Findings - MAC I - Mission Critical Sensitive

Finding ID Severity Title Description
V-220517 High The Cisco switch must be running an IOS release that is currently supported by Cisco Systems. Network devices running an unsupported operating system lack current security fixes required to mitigate the risks associated with recent vulnerabilities. Running a supported release also enables operations to maintain a stable and reliable network provided by improved quality of service and security features.
V-220516 High The Cisco switch must be configured to send log data to at least two central log servers for the purpose of forwarding alerts to the administrators and the information system security officer (ISSO). The aggregation of log data kept on a syslog server can be used to detect attacks and trigger an alert to the appropriate security personnel. The stored log data can used to detect weaknesses in security that enable the network IA team to find and address these weaknesses before breaches...
V-220513 High The Cisco switch must be configured to use at least two authentication servers for the purpose of authenticating users prior to granting administrative access. Centralized management of user accounts and authentication increases the administrative access to the switch. 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...
V-220504 High The Cisco switch must be configured to implement cryptographic mechanisms to protect the confidentiality of remote maintenance sessions. 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...
V-220503 High The Cisco switch must be configured to use FIPS-validated Keyed-Hash Message Authentication Code (HMAC) to protect the integrity of remote maintenance sessions. Unapproved mechanisms used for authentication to the cryptographic module are not verified; therefore, they cannot be relied upon to provide confidentiality or integrity, and DOD data may be compromised. Nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic activities are those activities conducted by individuals communicating through a network, either an external network (e.g., the...
V-220493 High The Cisco switch must be configured to terminate all network connections associated with device management after five minutes of inactivity. Terminating an idle session within a short time period reduces the window of opportunity for unauthorized personnel to take control of a management session enabled on the console or console port that has been left unattended. In addition, quickly terminating an idle session will also free up resources committed by...
V-220486 High The Cisco switch must be configured to prohibit the use of all unnecessary and nonsecure functions and services. Network devices are capable of providing a wide variety of functions and services. Some of the functions and services provided by default may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations. Additionally, it is sometimes convenient to provide multiple services from a single component (e.g., email and web services); however,...
V-260464 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to protect against known types of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks by employing organization-defined security safeguards. DoS is a condition when a resource is not available for legitimate users. When this occurs, the organization either cannot accomplish its mission or must operate at degraded capacity. This requirement addresses the configuration of network devices to mitigate the impact of DoS attacks that have occurred or are ongoing...
V-220515 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to obtain its public key certificates from an appropriate certificate policy through an approved service provider. For user certificates, each organization obtains certificates from an approved, shared service provider, as required by OMB policy. For federal agencies operating a legacy public key infrastructure cross-certified with the Federal Bridge Certification Authority (CA) at medium assurance or higher, this CA will suffice.
V-220514 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to support organizational requirements to conduct backups of the configuration when changes occur. System-level information includes default and customized settings and security attributes, including ACLs that relate to the network device configuration, as well as software required for the execution and operation of the device. Information system backup is a critical step in ensuring system integrity and availability. If the system fails and...
V-220512 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to off-load log records onto a different system than the system being audited. Information stored in one location is vulnerable to accidental or incidental deletion or alteration. Off-loading is a common process in information systems with limited audit storage capacity.
V-220510 Medium The Cisco switch must generate audit records showing starting and ending time for administrator access to the system. Without generating audit records that are specific to the security and mission needs of the organization, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one. Audit records can be generated from various components within the network device (e.g.,...
V-220509 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to generate log records for privileged activities. Without generating audit records that are specific to the security and mission needs of the organization, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one. Audit records can be generated from various components within the network device (e.g.,...
V-220508 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to generate audit records when successful/unsuccessful logon attempts occur. Without generating audit records that are specific to the security and mission needs of the organization, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one. Audit records can be generated from various components within the network device (e.g.,...
V-220507 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to generate log records when administrator privileges are deleted. Without generating audit records that are specific to the security and mission needs of the organization, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one. Audit records can be generated from various components within the network device (e.g.,...
V-220506 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to generate log records when administrator privileges are modified. Without generating audit records that are specific to the security and mission needs of the organization, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one. Audit records can be generated from various components within the network device (e.g.,...
V-220502 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to authenticate Network Time Protocol (NTP) sources using authentication that is cryptographically based. If Network Time Protocol is not authenticated, an attacker can introduce a rogue NTP server. This rogue server can then be used to send incorrect time information to network devices, which will make log timestamps inaccurate and affect scheduled actions. NTP authentication is used to prevent this tampering by authenticating...
V-220501 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to encrypt SNMP messages using a FIPS 140-2 approved algorithm. Without the strong encryption that is provided by the SNMP Version 3 User-based Security Model (USM), an unauthorized user can gain access to network management information that can be used to create a network outage.
V-220500 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to authenticate SNMP messages using a FIPS-validated Keyed-Hash Message Authentication Code (HMAC). 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...
V-220499 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to record time stamps for log records that can be mapped to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) or Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). If time stamps are not consistently applied and there is no common time reference, it is difficult to perform forensic analysis. Time stamps generated by the application include date and time. Time is commonly expressed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), a modern continuation of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or local...
V-220498 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to synchronize its clock with the primary and secondary time sources using redundant authoritative time sources. The loss of connectivity to a particular authoritative time source will result in the loss of time synchronization (free-run mode) and increasingly inaccurate time stamps on audit events and other functions. Multiple time sources provide redundancy by including a secondary source. Time synchronization is usually a hierarchy; clients synchronize time...
V-220497 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to generate an alert for all audit failure events. It is critical for the appropriate personnel to be aware if a system is at risk of failing to process audit logs as required. Without a real-time alert, security personnel may be unaware of an impending failure of the audit capability and system operation may be adversely affected. Alerts provide...
V-220496 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to allocate audit record storage capacity in accordance with organization-defined audit record storage requirements. In order to ensure network devices have a sufficient storage capacity in which to write the audit logs, they need to be able to allocate audit record storage capacity. The task of allocating audit record storage capacity is usually performed during initial device setup if it is modifiable. The value...
V-220495 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to audit the execution of privileged functions. Misuse of privileged functions, either intentionally or unintentionally by authorized users, or by unauthorized external entities that have compromised information system accounts, is a serious and ongoing concern and can have significant adverse impacts on organizations. Auditing the use of privileged functions is one way to detect such misuse and...
V-220494 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to automatically audit account enabling actions. Once an attacker establishes initial access to a system, the attacker often attempts to create a persistent method of reestablishing access. One way to accomplish this is for the attacker to simply enable a new or disabled account. Notification of account enabling is one method for mitigating this risk. A...
V-220492 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one special character be used. Use of a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password complexity is one factor of several that determine how long it...
V-220491 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one numeric character be used. Use of a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password complexity is one factor of several that determine how long it...
V-220490 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one lower-case character be used. Use of a complex password helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password complexity is one factor of several that determine how long it...
V-220489 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one uppercase character be used. Use of a complex passwords helps to increase the time and resources required to compromise the password. Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password complexity is one factor of several that determine how long it...
V-220488 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to implement replay-resistant authentication mechanisms for network access to privileged accounts. A replay attack may enable an unauthorized user to gain access to the application. Authentication sessions between the authenticator and the application validating the user credentials must not be vulnerable to a replay attack. An authentication process resists replay attacks if it is impractical to achieve a successful authentication by...
V-220487 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured with only one local account to be used as the account of last resort in the event the authentication server is unavailable. Authentication for administrative (privileged level) access to the device is required at all times. An account can be created on the device's local database for use when the authentication server is down or connectivity between the device and the authentication server is not operable. This account is referred to as...
V-220485 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to generate audit records containing the full-text recording of privileged commands. Reconstruction of harmful events or forensic analysis is not possible if audit records do not contain enough information. Organizations consider limiting the additional audit information to only that information explicitly needed for specific audit requirements. The additional information required is dependent on the type of information (i.e., sensitivity of the...
V-220484 Medium The Cisco switch must produce audit records containing information to establish where the events occurred. In order to compile an accurate risk assessment and provide forensic analysis, it is essential for security personnel to know where events occurred, such as device hardware components, device software modules, session identifiers, filenames, host names, and functionality. Associating information about where the event occurred within the network device provides...
V-220482 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to protect against an individual falsely denying having performed organization-defined actions to be covered by non-repudiation. This requirement supports non-repudiation of actions taken by an administrator and is required in order to maintain the integrity of the configuration management process. All configuration changes to the network device are logged, and administrators authenticate with two-factor authentication before gaining administrative access. Together, these processes will ensure the administrators...
V-220481 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to display the Standard Mandatory DoD Notice and Consent Banner before granting access to the device. Display of the DoD-approved use notification before granting access to the network device ensures privacy and security notification verbiage used is consistent with applicable federal laws, Executive Orders, directives, policies, regulations, standards, and guidance. System use notifications are required only for access via logon interfaces with human users.
V-220480 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to enforce the limit of three consecutive invalid logon attempts, after which time it must disconnect the session. By limiting the number of failed logon attempts, the risk of unauthorized system access via user password guessing, otherwise known as brute-forcing, is reduced.
V-220479 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to enforce approved authorizations for controlling the flow of management information within the device based on control policies. A mechanism to detect and prevent unauthorized communication flow must be configured or provided as part of the system design. If management information flow is not enforced based on approved authorizations, the network device may become compromised. Information flow control regulates where management information is allowed to travel within a...
V-220478 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to automatically audit account removal actions. Account management, as a whole, ensures access to the network device is being controlled in a secure manner by granting access to only authorized personnel. Auditing account removal actions will support account management procedures. When device management accounts are terminated, user or service accessibility may be affected. Auditing also ensures...
V-220477 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to automatically audit account disabling actions. Account management, as a whole, ensures access to the network device is being controlled in a secure manner by granting access to only authorized personnel. Auditing account disabling actions will support account management procedures. When device management accounts are disabled, user or service accessibility may be affected. Auditing also ensures...
V-220476 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to automatically audit account modification. Since the accounts in the network device are privileged or system-level accounts, account management is vital to the security of the network device. Account management by a designated authority ensures access to the network device is being controlled in a secure manner by granting access to only authorized personnel with...
V-220475 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to automatically audit account creation. Upon gaining access to a network device, an attacker will often first attempt to create a persistent method of reestablishing access. One way to accomplish this is to create a new account. Notification of account creation helps to mitigate this risk. Auditing account creation provides the necessary reconciliation that account...
V-220474 Medium The Cisco switch must be configured to limit the number of concurrent management sessions to an organization-defined number. Device management includes the ability to control the number of administrators and management sessions that manage a device. Limiting the number of allowed administrators and sessions per administrator based on account type, role, or access type is helpful in limiting risks related to DoS attacks. This requirement addresses concurrent sessions...