Title

The Cisco switch must be configured to enforce the limit of three consecutive invalid logon attempts, after which time it must lock out the user account from accessing the device for 15 minutes. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

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.

Check Content

Review the Cisco switch configuration to verify that it enforces the limit of three consecutive invalid logon attempts as shown in the example below: login block-for 900 attempts 3 within 120 Note: The configuration example above will block any logon attempt for 15 minutes after three consecutive invalid logon attempts within a two-minute period. If the Cisco switch is not configured to enforce the limit of three consecutive invalid logon attempts, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the Cisco switch to enforce the limit of three consecutive invalid logon attempts as shown in the example below: SW2(config)#login block-for 900 attempts 3 within 120

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-220576r960840_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-220576

Group Title: SRG-APP-000065-NDM-000214

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

Controls tied to check. These are derived from the CCIs shown above.