1.4.1.1 Non Default Community Names, Access Rights & ACL

Information

The default SNMP community name is public, a common setting for SNMP-capable devices.

Replace thepublic community name with another value that is hard to guess, but note that this doesn't fullyprevent against attacks as this name is in clear text format in packet captures.

Solution

The default access level for SNMP communities is read-only; if read-write support is required, set theaccess level for the community to rw from the community context. IPv4 and/or IPv6 ACLs may be usedto limit access to allowed management stations or subnets; only one ACL (IPv4 or IPv6) may be appliedto a community at a time. Apply an IPv4 or IPv6 ACL from the SNMP config-community context -

switch(config)# snmp-server community <community-name>
switch(config-community)# access-level <ro | rw>
switch(config-community)# access-list <IPv4 and/or IPv6 ACL>

Impact:

By using a non-default (and strong) SNMP community name, you make it significantly harder for attackers to gain access to the SNMP interface of your devices.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/24202

Item Details

Category: ACCESS CONTROL, SECURITY ASSESSMENT AND AUTHORIZATION, MEDIA PROTECTION, SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATIONS PROTECTION

References: 800-53|AC-3, 800-53|AC-5, 800-53|AC-6, 800-53|CA-7, 800-53|MP-2, 800-53|SC-4, CSCv7|14.6, CSCv7|14.7

Plugin: ArubaOS

Control ID: d34af018e0428060c3286e23826f27b3d177920b4a618c5b7667030ebc4a77d0