Cisco IOS Switch NDM STIG Version Comparison

There are 3 differences between versions v3 r2 (Oct. 24, 2024) (the "left" version) and v3 r4 (April 2, 2025) (the "right" version).

Check CISC-ND-000140 was changed between these two versions. Green, underlined text was added, red, struck-out text was removed.

The regular view of the left check and right check may be easier to read.

Title

The Cisco switch must be configured to enforce approved authorizations for controlling the flow of management information within the device based on control policies.

Check Content

Review the Cisco switch configuration to verify that administrative access to the switch is allowed only from hosts residing in the management network. Step 1: Verify that the line vty has an ACL inbound applied as shown in the example below: line vty 0 1 access-class MANAGEMENT_NET in transport input ssh Step 2: Verify that the ACL permits only hosts from the management network to access the switch. iip switch. ip access-list extended MANAGEMENT_NET permit ip x.x.x.0 0.0.0.255 any deny ip any any log-input If the Cisco switch is not configured to enforce approved authorizations for controlling the flow of management information within the device based on control policies, this is a finding.

Discussion

A mechanism to detect and prevent unauthorized communication flow must be configured or provided as part of the system design. If management information flow is not enforced based on approved authorizations, the network device may become compromised. Information flow control regulates where management information is allowed to travel within a network device. The flow of all management information must be monitored and controlled so it does not introduce any unacceptable risk to the network device or data. Application-specific examples of enforcement occur in systems that employ rule sets or establish configuration settings that restrict information system services or message-filtering capability based on message content (e.g., implementing key word searches or using document characteristics). Applications providing information flow control must be able to enforce approved authorizations for controlling the flow of management information within the system in accordance with applicable policy.

Fix

Configure the Cisco switch to restrict management access to specific IP addresses via SSH as shown in the example below: SW2(config)#ip access-list extended MANAGEMENT_NET SW2(config-std-nacl)#permit x.x.x.0 0.0.0.255 SW2(config-std-nacl)#exit SW2(config)#line vty 0 1 SW2(config-line)#transport input ssh SW2(config-line)#access-class MANAGEMENT_NET in SW2(config-line)#end