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ConfigProof

All controls

SW-SEC-013LowCisco Catalyst and Nexus

Access ports without port access control

At a glance

Base severity

Low

Area

Identity and Authentication

Platform

Cisco Catalyst and Nexus

Evidence level

Derived0.85

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

Any device plugged into these ports is admitted to the VLAN with no check of who or what it is.

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. Enable 802.1X with MAB fallback (authentication port-control auto, mab, dot1x pae authenticator) on user ports, or port security where 802.1X is not possible.

Command line

Cisco IOS-XE CLI

configure terminalinterface <interface>authentication port-control automabdot1x pae authenticatorendwrite 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 access-session
Values to fill in1
<interface>
Each affected port
Before you type it3
  • 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.
  • Repeat the interface lines for every affected port, or use interface range.
  • 802.1X needs aaa new-model, a RADIUS server group and dot1x system-auth-control first; enable it in monitor mode before enforcing.

How to confirm the fix

  • show access-session lists the ports with an 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.

More in Identity and Authentication

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