Cisco IOS XR Router RTR STIG Version Comparison

There are 6 differences between versions v2 r2 (April 27, 2023) (the "left" version) and v2 r4 (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 the 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 address-family ipv4 unicast ! neighbor x.1.23.2 remote-as nn keychain BGP_KEY_CHAIN address-family ipv4 unicaast EIGRP Example router eigrp 1 address-family ipv4 interface GigabitEthernet0/0/0/2 authentication keychain EIGRP_KEY_CHAIN IS-IS Example router isis 1 net 49.0001.0001.0001.0002.00 lsp-password keychain ISIS_KEY_CHAIN interface GigabitEthernet0/0/0/2 hello-password keychain ISIS_KEY_CHAIN OSPF Example router ospf 1 area 0 authentication message-digest keychain OSPF_KEY_CHAIN RIP Example router rip interface GigabitEthernet0/0/0/2 authentication keychain RIP_KEY_CHAIN mode md5 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 OSPF, EIGRP, IS-IS, and BGP authentication. BGP Example RP/0/0/CPU0:R2(config)#router bgp nn RP/0/0/CPU0:R2(config-bgp)#neighbor x.1.23.3 keychain BGP_KEY_CHAIN EIGRP Example RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config)#router eigrp 1 RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config-eigrp)#address-family ipv4 RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config-eigrp-af)#int g0/0/0/0 RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config-eigrp-af-if)#authentication keychain EIGRP_KEY_CHAIN RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config-eigrp-af-if)#end IS-IS Example RP/0/0/CPU0:R2(config)#router isis 1 RP/0/0/CPU0:R2(config-isis)#lsp-password keychain ISIS_KEY_CHAIN RP/0/0/CPU0:R2(config-isis)#int GigabitEthernet0/0/0/2 RP/0/0/CPU0:R2(config-isis-if)#hello-password keychain ISIS_KEY_CHAIN RP/0/0/CPU0:R2(config-isis-if)#end OSPF Example RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config)#router ospf 1 RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config-ospf)#area 0 RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config-ospf-ar)#authentication message-digest keychain OSPF_KEY_CHAIN RP/0/0/CPU0:R3(config-ospf-ar)#end RIP Example RP/0/0/CPU0:R2(config)#router rip RP/0/0/CPU0:R2(config-rip)#int g0/0/0/2 RP/0/0/CPU0:R2(config-rip-if)#authentication keychain XXX_KEY_CHAIN mode md5 RP/0/0/CPU0:R2(config-rip-if)#end