SNMP version 1 or 2c
At a glance
Base severity
Area
Platform
Evidence level
Benchmark reference
Reads the export, not the device
ConfigProof reads a configuration export. This control is evaluated against the objects in that file, and it reports what the file says. It does not connect to the device and sees no traffic, so a finding here describes the configuration, not what the firewall is doing right now.
Why it matters
SNMP v1 and v2c send the community string in clear and give read access to anyone who learns it.
How to fix it
Web interface
The steps below are written for the web interface. A finding raised on your own export carries the same steps with your object names filled in.
- In ASDM: Configuration > Device Management > Management Access > SNMP, remove the community string and v1/v2c hosts, and add an SNMPv3 group with privacy, a user and the hosts. Apply and save.
- On the CLI: no snmp-server community <community>, snmp-server group NMS v3 priv, snmp-server user <user> NMS v3 auth sha256 <auth> priv aes 256 <priv>, snmp-server host <nameif> <host> version 3 <user>, and write memory.
Command line
Cisco ASA CLI
configure terminalno snmp-server community <community>snmp-server group <snmp-group> v3 privsnmp-server user <snmp-user> <snmp-group> v3 auth sha256 <auth-password> priv aes 256 <priv-password>snmp-server host <nameif> <snmp-host> version 3 <snmp-user>endwrite memory
An example. Values in angle brackets are yours to supply; a finding on your own export fills in the names it read. Typed in configuration mode; write memory saves it, with no separate commit. Read every line first.
Read it back
show running-config snmp-servershow snmp-server group
Values to fill in7
- <community>
- The community string, as stored on the device
- <snmp-group>
- The SNMPv3 group
- <snmp-user>
- An SNMPv3 user name
- <auth-password>
- The SNMPv3 authentication password
- <priv-password>
- The SNMPv3 privacy password
- <nameif>
- The interface name (nameif)
- <snmp-host>
- The SNMP manager's address
Before you type it3
- Written from the ASA 9.x command reference and not run on a device: read each line before you paste it.
- In multiple context mode, type it in the context it applies to (changeto context <name>).
- Version 3 needs a user with an authentication and a privacy passphrase, which you set yourself.
How to confirm the fix
- Run show snmp-server group and confirm v3 priv only.
Limits
- No limitation is recorded for this control beyond the one that applies to all of them: it reads a configuration export.
Compliance references
CIS Cisco ASA 9.x Firewall Benchmark v1.1.0
Covers part of the recommendation
Where a control aligns with a recommendation of the CIS Cisco ASA 9.x Firewall Benchmark v1.1.0, that recommendation is cited as a reference. Only that version was checked. A reference is not a certification.
See it on your own firewall
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