STIGUI
V-221102CAT II — Medium severitySV-221102r999711_rule

The Cisco BGP switch must be configured to use a unique key for each autonomous system (AS) that it peers with.

Rule version CISC-RT-000480 · STIG v3 · 2026-03-04

Discussion

If the same keys are used between eBGP neighbors, the chance of a hacker compromising any of the BGP sessions increases. It is possible that a malicious user exists in one autonomous system who would know the key used for the eBGP session. This user would then be able to hijack BGP sessions with other trusted neighbors.

Check

Review the BGP configuration to determine if it is peering with multiple autonomous systems. Interview the ISSM and switch administrator to determine if unique keys are being used.

router bgp xx router-id 10.1.1.1 neighbor x.1.12.2 remote-as 2 password 3 7b07d1b3023056a9 address-family ipv4 unicast neighbor x.2.44.4 remote-as xx password 3 f07a10cb41db8bb6f8f0a340049a9b02 address-family ipv4 unicast

If unique keys are not being used, this is a finding.

Fix

Configure the switch to use unique keys for each AS that it peers with as shown in the example below:

SW1(config)# router bgp xx SW1(config-router)# neighbor x.1.12.2 SW1(config-router-neighbor)# password yyyyyyyyy SW1(config-router-neighbor)# exit SW1(config-router)# neighbor x.2.44.4 SW1(config-router-neighbor)# password zzzzzzzzzz SW1(config-router-neighbor)# end

Identifiers

Group ID
V-221102
Group title
SRG-NET-000230-RTR-000002
Rule ID
SV-221102r999711_rule
Check ID
C-22817r409795_chk
Fix ID
F-22806r409796_fix