STIGUI
V-278409CAT II — Medium severitySV-278409r1171979_rule

NGINX must separate API maintenance sessions from other network sessions within the system by logically separated communications paths.

Rule version NGNX-APP-003060 · STIG v1 · 2026-08-24

Discussion

Nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic activities are conducted by individuals who communicate through either an external or internal network.

Communications paths can be logically separated using encryption.

Satisfies: SRG-APP-000880, SRG-APP-000039

Check

If not using the NGINX API, this is Not Applicable.

Determine path to NGINX config file:

# nginx -qT | grep "# configuration"
# configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf:

Note: The default NGINX configuration is "/etc/nginx/nginx.conf", though various files may also be included.

Check that the nginx.conf file contains the API directive and a separate listen address:

http { server { listen 192.168.0.1:80; location / { proxy_pass http://backend; } location /api { api write=on; } } }

If the API is running on the same network as production traffic, this is a finding.

Fix

Configure the API directive to use a separate listen address from production traffic:

http { server { listen 192.168.0.1:80; location / { proxy_pass http://backend; } } server { listen 10.0.0.1:80; location /api { api write=on; } } }

After saving the updated config, restart NGINX:

nginx -s reload.

Identifiers

Group ID
V-278409
Group title
SRG-APP-000880
Rule ID
SV-278409r1171979_rule
Check ID
C-82943r1171977_chk
Fix ID
F-82848r1171978_fix