Skip to content
ConfigProof

All controls

SW-MGT-003MediumCisco Catalyst and Nexus

Management session timeout disabled or long

At a glance

Base severity

Medium

Area

Administrators and Access

Platform

Cisco Catalyst and Nexus

Evidence level

Fact1.00

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

An unattended session stays open for anyone who reaches the console or the administrator's workstation.

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.

  1. Set exec-timeout 10 0 (or less) on the console and every VTY line; NX-OS: exec-timeout 10.

Command line

Cisco IOS-XE CLI

configure terminalline <line>exec-timeout 10 0endwrite 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; copy running-config startup-config saves it, with no separate commit. Read every line first.

Read it back

show running-config | section line
Values to fill in1
<line>
The line to restrict, for example vty 0 4
Before you type it2
  • Written from the Cisco IOS-XE 17 and NX-OS 9 and 10 command references and not run on a device: read each line before you paste it.
  • On a Nexus (NX-OS) switch the same change is typed with NX-OS syntax; check the NX-OS configuration guide for the equivalent command.

How to confirm the fix

  • show running-config | section line shows an exec-timeout of 15 minutes or less on every line.

Limits

  • A line without exec-timeout uses the IOS default of 10 minutes; on NX-OS the default is not read and the line is counted as not read.

Compliance references

No benchmark recommendation is mapped to this control in this version.

More in Administrators and Access

See it on your own firewall

One complete analysis of one firewall costs nothing. A card is required and nothing is charged.

Start a free analysis