The Exchange Receive connector timeout must be limited.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-228399	EX16-MB-000550	SV-228399r612748_rule		Low

Description
Email system availability depends in part on best practice strategies for setting tuning. This configuration controls the number of idle minutes before the connection is dropped. It works in conjunction with the Maximum Inbound Connections Count setting. Connections, once established, may incur delays in message transfer. If the timeout period is too long, there is risk that idle connections may be maintained for unnecessarily long time periods, preventing new connections from being established.

Description

Email system availability depends in part on best practice strategies for setting tuning. This configuration controls the number of idle minutes before the connection is dropped. It works in conjunction with the Maximum Inbound Connections Count setting. Connections, once established, may incur delays in message transfer. If the timeout period is too long, there is risk that idle connections may be maintained for unnecessarily long time periods, preventing new connections from being established.

STIG	Date
Microsoft Exchange 2016 Mailbox Server Security Technical Implementation Guide	2020-12-10

Details

Check Text ( C-30632r496993_chk )
Review the Email Domain Security Plan (EDSP). Determine the Connection Timeout value. Open the Exchange Management Shell and enter the following command: Get-ReceiveConnector \| Select Name, Identity, ConnectionTimeout For each Receive connector, if the value of "ConnectionTimeout" is not set to "00:10:00", this is a finding. or If "ConnectionTimeout" is set to other than "00:10:00" and has signoff and risk acceptance in the EDSP, this is not a finding.

Check Text ( C-30632r496993_chk )

Review the Email Domain Security Plan (EDSP).

Determine the Connection Timeout value.

Open the Exchange Management Shell and enter the following command:

Get-ReceiveConnector | Select Name, Identity, ConnectionTimeout

For each Receive connector, if the value of "ConnectionTimeout" is not set to "00:10:00", this is a finding.

or

If "ConnectionTimeout" is set to other than "00:10:00" and has signoff and risk acceptance in the EDSP, this is not a finding.

Fix Text (F-30617r496994_fix)
Update the EDSP to specify the Connection Timeout value. Open the Exchange Management Shell and enter the following command: Set-ReceiveConnector -Identity <'IdentityName'> -ConnectionTimeout 00:10:00 Note: The value must be in single quotes. or Enter the value as identified by the EDSP that has obtained a signoff with risk acceptance.