Title

The network device must use different SNMP community names or groups for various levels of read and write access. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

Numerous vulnerabilities exist with SNMP; therefore, without unique SNMP community names, the risk of compromise is dramatically increased. This is especially true with vendors default community names which are widely known by hackers and other networking experts. If a hacker gains access to these devices and can easily guess the name, this could result in denial of service, interception of sensitive information, or other destructive actions.

Check Content

Review the SNMP configuration of all managed nodes to ensure different community names (V1/2) or groups/users (V3) are configured for read-only and read-write access. If unique community strings or accounts are not used for SNMP peers, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure the SNMP community strings on the network device and change them from the default values. SNMP community strings and user passwords must be unique and not match any other network device passwords. Different community strings (V1/2) or groups (V3) must be configured for various levels of read and write access.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-3043r4_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-3043

Group Title: SNMP privileged and non-privileged access.

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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