The Cisco switch must be configured to automatically audit account enabling actions.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-220494 | CISC-ND-000880 | SV-220494r961290_rule | CCI-002130 | medium |
| Description | ||||
| Once an attacker establishes initial access to a system, the attacker often attempts to create a persistent method of reestablishing access. One way to accomplish this is for the attacker to simply enable a new or disabled account. Notification of account enabling is one method for mitigating this risk. A comprehensive account management process will ensure an audit trail which documents the creation of application user accounts and notifies administrators and Information System Security Officers (ISSO). Such a process greatly reduces the risk that accounts will be surreptitiously created and provides logging that can be used for forensic purposes. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Cisco NX OS Switch NDM Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2025-05-19 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-220494r961290_chk)
Review the switch configuration to determine if it automatically audits account enabling. The configuration should look similar to the example below:
Step 1: Verify that account records will be sent to an AAA server as shown in the example below:
aaa accounting default group RADIUS_SERVERS
Step 2: Verify that the referenced group name has defined AAA servers that are online.
aaa group server radius RADIUS_SERVERS
server 10.1.48.10
server 10.1.48.12
Note: Cisco NX-OS devices report configuration activity to TACACS+ or RADIUS servers in the form of accounting records. Each accounting record contains accounting attribute-value (AV) pairs and is stored on the AAA server.
If account enabling is not automatically audited, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-22198r539204_fix)
Configure the switch to log account enabling using the following steps:
Step 1: Configure the AAA servers as shown in the example below:
SW1(config)# radius-server host 10.1.48.10
SW1(config)# radius-server host 10.1.48.12
Step 2: Configure an AAA server group as shown in the example below:
SW1(config)# aaa group server radius RADIUS_SERVERS
SW1(config-radius)# server 10.1.48.10
SW1(config-radius)# server 10.1.48.12
SW1(config-radius)# exit
Step 3: Enable AAA accounting as shown in the example below:
SW1(config)# aaa accounting default group RADIUS_SERVERS
SW1(config)# end