Site-to-site peer authenticated with a pre-shared key
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 shared key is only as strong as its length and how it was exchanged, and the same key often ends up on many peers; certificates avoid both.
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 > Site-to-Site VPN > Connection Profiles, edit the profile and choose certificate authentication with an identity certificate. Apply and save.
- On the CLI: tunnel-group <peer> ipsec-attributes, ikev2 local-authentication certificate <trustpoint> and ikev2 remote-authentication certificate, and write memory.
Command line
Cisco ASA CLI
configure terminaltunnel-group <peer> ipsec-attributesikev2 local-authentication certificate <trustpoint>ikev2 remote-authentication certificateendwrite 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 tunnel-group <peer>Values to fill in2
- <peer>
- The peer
- <trustpoint>
- The trustpoint holding the identity certificate
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>).
- The far end has to offer the same proposal, so coordinate the change with whoever runs it.
How to confirm the fix
- Run show crypto ikev2 sa detail and confirm the authentication method.
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
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