No failover
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
A single unit is a single point of failure for every network behind 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 > High Availability and Scalability > Failover, set up an active/standby pair with a second unit.
- On the CLI: failover lan unit primary, failover lan interface <name> <interface>, failover link <name> <interface>, failover ipsec pre-shared-key <key>, failover, and write memory.
Command line
Cisco ASA CLI
configure terminalfailover lan unit primaryfailover lan interface FOLINK <interface>failover interface ip FOLINK <address> <mask> standby <standby-address>failover link FOLINK <interface>failover ipsec pre-shared-key <key>failoverendwrite 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 failoverValues to fill in5
- <interface>
- The physical or logical interface
- <address>
- The active unit's address
- <mask>
- Its netmask
- <standby-address>
- The standby unit's address on that interface
- <key>
- A new shared key
Before you type it4
- 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>).
- In multiple context mode, failover, clustering and resource classes are configured in the system execution space.
- Needs a second unit of the same model and license, configured as secondary.
How to confirm the fix
- Run show failover.
Limits
- Whether a branch device needs a second unit is a design decision.
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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