The network device must be configured to conduct backups of system level information contained in the information system when changes occur.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-255964	SRG-APP-000516-NDM-000340	ARST-ND-000820	SV-255964r961863_rule	2025-02-20	2

Description
System-level information includes default and customized settings and security attributes, including ACLs that relate to the network device configuration, as well as software required for the execution and operation of the device. Information system backup is a critical step in ensuring system integrity and availability. If the system fails and there is no backup of the system-level information, a denial of service condition is possible for all who utilize this critical network component. This control requires the network device to support the organizational central backup process for system-level information associated with the network device. This function may be provided by the network device itself; however, the preferred best practice is a centralized backup rather than each network device performing discrete backups.

Description

System-level information includes default and customized settings and security attributes, including ACLs that relate to the network device configuration, as well as software required for the execution and operation of the device. Information system backup is a critical step in ensuring system integrity and availability. If the system fails and there is no backup of the system-level information, a denial of service condition is possible for all who utilize this critical network component. This control requires the network device to support the organizational central backup process for system-level information associated with the network device. This function may be provided by the network device itself; however, the preferred best practice is a centralized backup rather than each network device performing discrete backups.

ℹ️ Check
Verify the Arista network device is configured with an “event-handler” to complete an incremental backup of the running configuration, which can be maintained in the switch flash memory stored in /mnt/flash/startup-config_directory (filetime): switch#show run \| section event-handler event-handler CFG_BACKUP trigger on-startup-config action bash buf () { filetime=$(date +%Y%m%d); cp /mnt/flash/startup-config /mnt/flash/startup-config_${filetime}; }; buf ! If the Arista network device is not configured to conduct backups of system-level data when changes occur, this is a finding.

ℹ️ Check

Verify the Arista network device is configured with an “event-handler” to complete an incremental backup of the running configuration, which can be maintained in the switch flash memory stored in /mnt/flash/startup-config_directory (filetime): switch#show run | section event-handler event-handler CFG_BACKUP trigger on-startup-config action bash buf () { filetime=$(date +%Y%m%d); cp /mnt/flash/startup-config /mnt/flash/startup-config_${filetime}; }; buf ! If the Arista network device is not configured to conduct backups of system-level data when changes occur, this is a finding.

✔️ Fix
Configure the Arista network device with an “event-handler” to complete an incremental backup of the running configuration, which can be maintained in the switch flash memory stored in /mnt/flash/startup-config_directory (filetime): switch#config switch(config)#event-handler CFG_BACKUP switch(config-handler-CFG_BACKUP)#trigger on-startup-config switch(config-handler-CFG_BACKUP)#action bash buf () { filetime=$(date +%Y%m%d); cp /mnt/flash/startup-config /mnt/flash/startup-config_${filetime}; }; buf switch(config-handler-CFG_BACKUP)#exit switch(config)#exit !

✔️ Fix

Configure the Arista network device with an “event-handler” to complete an incremental backup of the running configuration, which can be maintained in the switch flash memory stored in /mnt/flash/startup-config_directory (filetime): switch#config switch(config)#event-handler CFG_BACKUP switch(config-handler-CFG_BACKUP)#trigger on-startup-config switch(config-handler-CFG_BACKUP)#action bash buf () { filetime=$(date +%Y%m%d); cp /mnt/flash/startup-config /mnt/flash/startup-config_${filetime}; }; buf switch(config-handler-CFG_BACKUP)#exit switch(config)#exit !