| Finding ID |
Severity |
Title |
Description |
|
V-228676
|
High |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must not use the default admin account password. |
To assure accountability and prevent unauthenticated access, organizational administrators must be uniquely identified and authenticated for all network management accesses to prevent potential misuse and compromise of the system.
The use of a default password for any account, especially one for administrative access, can quickly lead to a compromise of... |
|
V-228670
|
High |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must not use SNMP Versions 1 or 2. |
SNMP Versions 1 and 2 are not considered secure. Without the strong authentication and privacy that is provided by the SNMP Version 3 User-based Security Model (USM), an unauthorized user can gain access to network management information used to launch an attack against the network. SNMP Versions 1 and 2... |
|
V-228658
|
High |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must terminate management sessions after 10 minutes of inactivity except to fulfill documented and validated mission requirements. |
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-268323
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto device 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-228678
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must authenticate Network Time Protocol sources. |
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 affected scheduled actions. NTP authentication is used to prevent this tampering by authenticating... |
|
V-228677
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must generate an audit log record when the Data Plane CPU utilization is 100%. |
Auditing and logging are key components of any security architecture. Logging the actions of specific events provides a means to investigate an attack; to recognize resource utilization or capacity thresholds; or to identify an improperly configured network device. If auditing is not comprehensive, it will not be useful for intrusion... |
|
V-228675
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must not use Password Profiles. |
Password profiles override settings made in the Minimum Password Complexity window. If Password Profiles are used they can bypass password complexity requirements. |
|
V-228674
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must use DoD-approved PKI rather than proprietary or self-signed device certificates. |
DoD Instruction 8520.02, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Public Key (PK) Enabling mandates that certificates must be issued by the DoD PKI or by a DoD-approved PKI for authentication, digital signature, or encryption. |
|
V-228673
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must employ centrally managed authentication server(s). |
The use of authentication servers or other centralized management servers for providing centralized authentication services is required for network device management. Maintaining local administrator accounts for daily usage on each network device without centralized management is not scalable or feasible. Without centralized management, it is likely that credentials for some... |
|
V-228672
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must use automated mechanisms to alert security personnel to threats identified by authoritative sources (e.g., CTOs) and IAW CJCSM 6510.01B. |
CJCSM 6510.01B, "Cyber Incident Handling Program", in subsection e.(6)(c) sets forth three requirements for Cyber events detected by an automated system:
If the cyber event is detected by an automated system, an alert will be sent to the POC designated for receiving such automated alerts.
CC/S/A/FAs that maintain automated detection... |
|
V-228671
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must off-load audit records onto a different system or media 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.
The Palo Alto Networks security platform has multiple log types; at a minimum, the Traffic, Threat, System, and Configuration logs must be sent... |
|
V-228669
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must only allow the use of secure protocols that implement cryptographic mechanisms to protect the integrity of maintenance and diagnostic communications for nonlocal 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. Note that HTTP OCSP is permitted to support OCSP where used. If unsecured protocols (lacking cryptographic mechanisms) are used for sessions, the contents... |
|
V-228667
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must accept and verify Personal Identity Verification (PIV) credentials. |
The use of PIV credentials facilitates standardization and reduces the risk of unauthorized access.
DOD has mandated the use of the CAC to support identity management and personal authentication for systems covered under HSPD 12 and as a primary component of layered protection for national security systems. |
|
V-228666
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must record time stamps for audit 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 and must be expressed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), also known as Zulu time, a modern continuation of Greenwich... |
|
V-228665
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must be configured to synchronize internal information system clocks with the primary and secondary time sources located in different geographic regions 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-228660
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must automatically lock the account until the locked account is released by an administrator when three unsuccessful logon attempts in 15 minutes are exceeded. |
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. Limits are imposed by locking the account.
This should not be configured in Device >> Setup >> Management >> Authentication Settings; instead, an authentication profile should... |
|
V-228659
|
Medium |
Administrators in the role of Security Administrator, Cryptographic Administrator, or Audit Administrator must not also have the role of Audit Administrator. |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform has both pre-configured and configurable Administrator roles. Administrator roles determine the functions that the administrator is permitted to perform after logging in. Roles can be assigned directly to an administrator account, or define role profiles, which specify detailed privileges, and assign those to administrator... |
|
V-228655
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must prohibit the use of unencrypted protocols for network access to privileged accounts. |
Passwords need to be protected at all times, and encryption is the standard method for protecting passwords. If passwords are not encrypted, they can be plainly read (i.e., clear text) and easily compromised.
Network devices can accomplish this by making direct function calls to encryption modules or by leveraging operating... |
|
V-228654
|
Medium |
If multifactor authentication is not available and passwords must be used, the Palo Alto Networks security platform must require that when a password is changed, the characters are changed in at least 8 of the positions within the password. |
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... |
|
V-228653
|
Medium |
If multifactor authentication is not available and passwords must be used, the Palo Alto Networks security platform must 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 determines how long it... |
|
V-228652
|
Medium |
If multifactor authentication is not available and passwords must be used, the Palo Alto Networks security platform must 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 determines how long it... |
|
V-228651
|
Medium |
If multifactor authentication is not available and passwords must be used, the Palo Alto Networks security platform must enforce password complexity by requiring that at least one lowercase 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 determines how long it... |
|
V-228650
|
Medium |
If multifactor authentication is not available and passwords must be used, the Palo Alto Networks security platform must 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 determines how long it... |
|
V-228648
|
Medium |
If multifactor authentication is not available and passwords must be used, the Palo Alto Networks security platform must enforce a minimum 15-character password length. |
Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. Password length is one factor of several that helps to determine strength and how long it takes to crack a password.
The shorter the password, the lower the number... |
|
V-228647
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must 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-228646
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must uniquely identify and authenticate organizational administrators (or processes acting on behalf of organizational administrators). |
To assure accountability and prevent unauthenticated access, organizational administrators must be uniquely identified and authenticated for all network management accesses to prevent potential misuse and compromise of the system. |
|
V-228645
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must be configured to prohibit the use of all unnecessary and/or nonsecure functions, ports, protocols, and/or services, as defined in the PPSM CAL and vulnerability assessments. |
In order to prevent unauthorized connection of devices, unauthorized transfer of information, or unauthorized tunneling (i.e., embedding of data types within data types), organizations must disable unused or unnecessary physical and logical ports/protocols on information systems.
Network devices are capable of providing a wide variety of functions and services. Some... |
|
V-228642
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must generate audit records when successful/unsuccessful attempts to access privileges 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.
By default, the Configuration Log contains the administrator username, client (Web or CLI),... |
|
V-228639
|
Medium |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must enforce the limit of three consecutive invalid logon attempts. |
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-228664
|
Low |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must synchronize internal information system clocks to the authoritative time source when the time difference is greater than one second. |
Inaccurate time stamps make it more difficult to correlate events and can lead to an inaccurate analysis. Determining the correct time a particular event occurred on a system is critical when conducting forensic analysis and investigating system events. Synchronizing internal information system clocks provides uniformity of time stamps for information... |
|
V-228663
|
Low |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must compare internal information system clocks at least every 24 hours with an authoritative time server. |
Inaccurate time stamps make it more difficult to correlate events and can lead to an inaccurate analysis. Determining the correct time a particular event occurred on a system is critical when conducting forensic analysis and investigating system events. Synchronizing internal information system clocks provides uniformity of time stamps for information... |
|
V-228662
|
Low |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must have alarms enabled. |
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-228661
|
Low |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must generate an immediate alert when allocated audit record storage volume reaches 75% of repository maximum audit record storage capacity. |
If security personnel are not notified immediately upon storage volume utilization reaching 75%, they are unable to plan for storage capacity expansion. This could lead to the loss of audit information. Note that while the network device must generate the alert, notification may be done by a management server. |
|
V-228643
|
Low |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must produce audit log records containing information (FQDN, unique hostname, management IP address) to establish the source of events. |
In order to compile an accurate risk assessment and provide forensic analysis, it is essential for security personnel to know the source of the event. The source may be a component, module, or process within the device or an external session, administrator, or device. Associating information about where the source... |
|
V-228640
|
Low |
The Palo Alto Networks security platform must 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. |
