The Cisco switch must be configured to encrypt SNMP messages using a FIPS 140-2 approved algorithm.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-220553 | SRG-APP-000395-NDM-000310 | CISC-ND-001140 | SV-220553r961506_rule | 2026-03-04 | 3 |
Description
Without the strong encryption that is provided by the SNMP Version 3 User-based Security Model (USM), an unauthorized user can gain access to network management information that can be used to create a network outage.
ℹ️ Check
Review the Cisco switch configuration to verify that it is compliant with this requirement as shown in the example below:
snmp-server group V3GROUP v3 priv read V3READ write V3WRITE
snmp-server view V3READ iso included
snmp-server view V3WRITE iso included
snmp-server host x.x.x.x version 3 auth V3USER
Encryption used by the SNMP users can be viewed via the show snmp user command as shown in the example below:
R4#show snmp user
User name: V3USER
Engine ID: 800000090300C2042B540000
storage-type: nonvolatile active
Authentication Protocol: SHA
Privacy Protocol: AES256
Group-name: V3GROUP
If the Cisco switch is not configured to encrypt SNMP messages using a FIPS 140-2 approved algorithm, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Configure the Cisco switch to encrypt SNMP messages using a FIPS 140-2 approved algorithm as shown in the example below:
SW4(config)#snmp-server group V3GROUP v3 priv read V3READ write V3WRITE
SW4(config)#snmp-server user V3USER V3GROUP v3 auth sha xxxxxx priv aes 256 xxxxxx