Cisco IOS XE Switch RTR STIG Version Comparison

There are 1 differences between versions v2 r5 (Oct. 25, 2023) (the "left" version) and v3 r2 (July 2, 2025) (the "right" version).

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Title

The Cisco switch must be configured to protect against or limit the effects of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks by employing control plane protection.

Check Content

Review the Cisco switch configuration to verify it is compliant with this requirement. Step protects against known types of DoS attacks by employing organization-defined security safeguards. Step 1: To Verify verify traffic types have been classified based on importance levels. The following is an example configuration: class-map match-all CoPP_CRITICAL match access-group name CoPP_CRITICAL class-map match-any CoPP_IMPORTANT match access-group name CoPP_IMPORTANT match protocol arp class-map match-all CoPP_NORMAL match access-group name CoPP_NORMAL class-map match-any CoPP_UNDESIRABLE match access-group name CoPP_UNDESIRABLE class-map match-all CoPP_DEFAULT match access-group name CoPP_DEFAULT Step 2: Review the access control lists (ACLs) referenced by the class maps to determine if the traffic is being classified appropriately. The following is an example configuration: ip access-list extended CoPP_CRITICAL remark our control plane adjacencies are critical permit ospf host [OSPF neighbor A] any permit ospf host [OSPF neighbor B] any permit pim host [PIM neighbor A] any permit pim host [PIM neighbor B] any permit pim host [RP addr] any permit igmp any 224.0.0.0 15.255.255.255 deny ip any any ip access-list extended CoPP_IMPORTANT permit tcp host [TACACS server] eq tacacs any permit tcp [management subnet] 0.0.0.255 any eq 22 permit udp host [SNMP manager] any eq snmp permit udp host [NTP server] eq ntp any deny ip any any ip access-list extended CoPP_NORMAL remark we will want to rate limit ICMP traffic deny icmp any host x.x.x.x fragments permit icmp any any echo permit icmp any any echo-reply permit icmp any any time-exceeded permit icmp any any unreachable deny ip any any ip access-list extended CoPP_UNDESIRABLE remark other management plane traffic that should not be received permit udp any any eq ntp permit udp any any eq snmp permit tcp any any eq 22 permit tcp any any eq 23 remark other control plane traffic not configured on switch permit eigrp any any permit udp any any eq rip deny ip any any ip access-list extended CoPP_DEFAULT permit ip any any Note: Explicitly defining undesirable traffic with ACL entries enables the network operator to collect statistics. Excessive ARP packets can potentially monopolize Route Processor resources, starving other important processes. Currently, ARP is the only Layer 2 protocol that can be specifically classified using the match protocol command. Step 3: Review the policy-map to determine if the traffic is being policed appropriately for each classification. The following is an example configuration: policy-map CONTROL_PLANE_POLICY class CoPP_CRITICAL police 512000 8000 conform-action transmit exceed-action transmit class CoPP_IMPORTANT police 256000 4000 conform-action transmit exceed-action drop class CoPP_NORMAL police 128000 2000 conform-action transmit exceed-action drop class CoPP_UNDESIRABLE police 8000 1000 conform-action drop exceed-action drop class CoPP_DEFAULT police 64000 1000 conform-action transmit exceed-action drop Step 4: Verify that the Control Plane Policing (CoPP) CoPP policy map has been saved, issue the "show running-config" command in privileged EXEC mode and verify the following line exists in the output: policy-map system-cpp-policy Step 2: To view the policy map and verify the correct policer rates are set according to organization-defined standards, run the following command: show policy-map control-plane Note: Starting from Cisco IOS XE Fuji 16.8.1a, the creation of user-defined class-maps is not supported. A user enabled. The following is an example configuration: control-plane service-policy input CONTROL_PLANE_POLICY Note: Control Plane Protection (CPPr) can only enable/disable a CPU queue or change be used to filter as well as police control plane traffic destined to the RP. CPPr is very similar to CoPP and has the ability to filter and police policer rate of traffic using finer granularity by dividing the aggregate control plane into three separate categories: 1) host, 2) transit, and 3) CEF-exception. Hence, a CPU queue. If separate policy-map could be configured for each traffic category. If the Cisco switch is not configured to protect against known types of DoS attacks by employing organization-defined security safeguards, this is a finding.

Discussion

The Route Processor (RP) is critical to all network operations because it is the component used to build all forwarding paths for the data plane via control plane processes. It is also instrumental with ongoing network management functions that keep the routers and links available for providing network services. Any disruption to the RP or the control and management planes can result in mission-critical network outages. A DoS attack targeting the RP can result in excessive CPU and memory utilization. To maintain network stability and RP security, the router must be able to handle specific control plane and management plane traffic that is destined to the RP. In the past, one method of filtering was to use ingress filters on forwarding interfaces to filter both forwarding path and receiving path traffic, as well as limiting traffic destined to the device. However, this method does not scale well as the number of interfaces grows and the size of the ingress filters grows. Control plane policing increases the security of routers and multilayer switches by protecting the RP from unnecessary or malicious traffic. Filtering and rate limiting the traffic flow of control plane packets can be implemented to protect routers against reconnaissance and DoS attacks, allowing the control plane to maintain packet forwarding and protocol states despite an attack or heavy load on the router or multilayer switch.

Fix

Configure the Cisco switch to protect against known types of DoS attacks on the route processor. processor. Step Implementing a CoPP policy as shown in the example below is a best practice method: Step 1: Configure the default policer rates for all ACL specific traffic types. SW1(config)#ip access-list extended CoPP_CRITICAL SW1(config-ext-nacl)#remark our control plane adjacencies CPU queues and save the configuration. Device> enable Device# configure terminal Device(config)# cpp system-default Defaulting CPP : Policer rate for all classes will be set to their defaults Device(config)# end Device# copy running-configuration startup-configuration Step 2: View the policy map and verify the correct policer rates are set according to organization-defined standards. show policy-map control-plane Step 3: Change critical SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit ospf host x.x.x.x any SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit ospf host x.x.x.x any SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit pim host x.x.x.x any SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit pim host x.x.x.x any SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit igmp any policer rates 224.0.0.0 15.255.255.255 SW1(config-ext-nacl)#deny ip any any SW1(config-ext-nacl)#exit SW1(config)#ip access-list extended CoPP_IMPORTANT SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit tcp host x.x.x.x eq tacacs any SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit tcp x.x.x.x 0.0.0.255 any eq 22 SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit udp host x.x.x.x any eq snmp SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit udp host x.x.x.x eq ntp any SW1(config-ext-nacl)#deny ip any any SW1(config-ext-nacl)#exit SW1(config)#ip access-list extended CoPP_NORMAL SW1(config-ext-nacl)#remark we will want to match the organization-defined standards. Note: Starting from Cisco IOS XE Fuji 16.8.1a, the creation of user-defined class-maps is not supported. A user can only enable/disable a CPU queue or change the policer rate limit ICMP traffic SW1(config-ext-nacl)#deny icmp any host x.x.x.x fragments SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit icmp any any echo SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit icmp any any echo-reply SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit icmp any any time-exceeded SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit icmp any any unreachable SW1(config-ext-nacl)#deny ip any any SW1(config-ext-nacl)#exit SW1(config)#ip access-list extended CoPP_UNDESIRABLE SW1(config-ext-nacl)#remark management plane traffic that should not be received SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit udp any any eq ntp SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit udp any any eq snmp SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit tcp any any eq 22 SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit tcp any any eq 23 SW1(config-ext-nacl)#remark control plane traffic not configured on switch SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit eigrp any any SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit udp any any eq rip SW1(config-ext-nacl)#deny ip any any SW1(config-ext-nacl)#exit SW1(config)#ip access-list extended CoPP_DEFAULT SW1(config-ext-nacl)#permit ip any any SW1(config-ext-nacl)#exit Step 2: Configure class-maps referencing each of the ACLs. SW1(config)#class-map match-all CoPP_CRITICAL SW1(config-cmap)#match access-group name CoPP_CRITICAL SW1(config-cmap)#class-map match-any CoPP_IMPORTANT SW1(config-cmap)#match access-group name CoPP_IMPORTANT SW1(config-cmap)#match protocol arp SW1(config-cmap)#class-map match-all CoPP_NORMAL SW1(config-cmap)#match access-group name CoPP_NORMAL SW1(config-cmap)#class-map match-any CoPP_UNDESIRABLE SW1(config-cmap)#match access-group name CoPP_UNDESIRABLE SW1(config-cmap)#class-map match-all CoPP_DEFAULT SW1(config-cmap)#match access-group name CoPP_DEFAULT SW1(config-cmap)#exit Step 3: Configure a CPU queue. policy-map referencing the configured class-maps and apply appropriate bandwidth allowance and policing attributes. SW1(config)#policy-map CONTROL_PLANE_POLICY SW1(config-pmap)#class CoPP_CRITICAL SW1(config-pmap-c)#police 512000 8000 conform-action transmit exceed-action transmit SW1(config-pmap-c-police)#class CoPP_IMPORTANT SW1(config-pmap-c)#police 256000 4000 conform-action transmit exceed-action drop SW1(config-pmap-c-police)#class CoPP_NORMAL SW1(config-pmap-c)#police 128000 2000 conform-action transmit exceed-action drop SW1(config-pmap-c-police)#class CoPP_UNDESIRABLE SW1(config-pmap-c)#police 8000 1000 conform-action drop exceed-action drop SW1(config-pmap-c-police)#class CoPP_DEFAULT SW1(config-pmap-c)#police 64000 1000 conform-action transmit exceed-action drop SW1(config-pmap-c-police)#exit SW1(config-pmap-c)#exit SW1(config-pmap)#exit Step 4: Apply the policy-map to the control plane. SW1(config)#control-plane SW1(config-cp)#service-policy input CONTROL_PLANE_POLICY SW1(config-cp)#end