VPN session never times out
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 session that never times out stays open on a lost or stolen laptop and keeps holding an address and a license.
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 > Remote Access VPN > Network (Client) Access > Group Policies, edit the policy: General > More Options, uncheck Inherit and set Idle Timeout and Maximum Connect Time. Apply and save.
- On the CLI: group-policy <policy> attributes, vpn-idle-timeout 30 and vpn-session-timeout 720, and write memory.
Command line
Cisco ASA CLI
configure terminalgroup-policy <group-policy> attributesvpn-idle-timeout 30vpn-session-timeout 720endwrite 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 group-policy <group-policy>Values to fill in1
- <group-policy>
- The group policy
Before you type it2
- 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>).
How to confirm the fix
- Run show vpn-sessiondb detail anyconnect and confirm the timeouts.
Limits
- No limitation is recorded for this control beyond the one that applies to all of them: it reads a configuration export.
Compliance references
No benchmark recommendation is mapped to this control in this version.
See it on your own firewall
One complete analysis of one firewall costs nothing. A card is required and nothing is charged.