Cisco IOS XE Router RTR STIG Version Comparison

There are 12 differences between versions v2 r7 (April 27, 2023) (the "left" version) and v2 r9 (Oct. 25, 2023) (the "right" version).

Check CISC-RT-000020 was removed from the benchmark in the "right" version. The text below reflects the old wording.

This check's original form is available here.

Title

The Cisco router must be configured to implement message authentication for all control plane protocols.

Check Content

Review the router configuration. Verify that neighbor router authentication is enabled for all routing protocols. The configuration examples below depicts OSPF, EIGRP, IS-IS and BGP authentication. BGP Example: router bgp nn no synchronization bgp log-neighbor-changes neighbor x.x.x.x remote-as nn neighbor x.x.x.x password xxxxxxx EIGRP Example: key chain EIGRP_KEY key 1 key-string xxxxxxx … … … interface GigabitEthernet0/0 ip address x.x.x.x 255.255.255.0 ip authentication mode eigrp 1 md5 ip authentication key-chain eigrp 1 EIGRP_KEY IS-IS Example: interface GigabitEthernet0/0 ip address x.x.x.x 255.255.255.0 ip router isis isis password xxxxxxx OSPF Example: interface GigabitEthernet0/0 ip address x.x.x.x 255.255.255.0 ip ospf authentication-key xxxxx If authentication is not enabled on all routing protocols, this is a finding.

Discussion

A rogue router could send a fictitious routing update to convince a site's perimeter router to send traffic to an incorrect or even a rogue destination. This diverted traffic could be analyzed to learn confidential information about the site's network, or used to disrupt the network's ability to communicate with other networks. This is known as a "traffic attraction attack" and is prevented by configuring neighbor router authentication for routing updates. This requirement applies to all IPv4 and IPv6 protocols that are used to exchange routing or packet forwarding information. This includes BGP, RIP, OSPF, EIGRP, IS-IS and LDP.

Fix

Configure authentication to be enabled for every protocol that affects the routing or forwarding tables. The example configuration commands below enables BGP, EIGRP, IS-IS, and OSPF authentication. BGP Example R1(config)#router bgp nn R1(config-router)#neighbor x.x.x.x password xxxxxx EIGRP Example R5(config)#key chain EIGRP_KEY R5(config-keychain)#key 1 R5(config-keychain-key)#key-string xxxxx R5(config-keychain-key)#exit R5(config-keychain)#exit R5(config)#int g0/0 R5(config-if)#ip authentication mode eigrp 1 md5 R5(config-if)#ip authentication key-chain eigrp 1 EIGRP_KEY R5(config-if)#end IS-IS Example R5(config)#int g0/0 R5(config-if)#isis password xxxxxx OSPF Example R5(config)#int g0/0 R5(config-if)#ip ospf authentication-key xxxxx R5(config-if)#end