The Cisco switch must be configured to automatically audit account enabling actions.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-220494	SRG-APP-000319-NDM-000283	CISC-ND-000880	SV-220494r961290_rule	2025-02-27	3

Description
Once an attacker establishes initial access to a system, the attacker often attempts to create a persistent method of reestablishing access. One way to accomplish this is for the attacker to simply enable a new or disabled account. Notification of account enabling is one method for mitigating this risk. A comprehensive account management process will ensure an audit trail which documents the creation of application user accounts and notifies administrators and Information System Security Officers (ISSO). Such a process greatly reduces the risk that accounts will be surreptitiously created and provides logging that can be used for forensic purposes.

Description

Once an attacker establishes initial access to a system, the attacker often attempts to create a persistent method of reestablishing access. One way to accomplish this is for the attacker to simply enable a new or disabled account. Notification of account enabling is one method for mitigating this risk. A comprehensive account management process will ensure an audit trail which documents the creation of application user accounts and notifies administrators and Information System Security Officers (ISSO). Such a process greatly reduces the risk that accounts will be surreptitiously created and provides logging that can be used for forensic purposes.

ℹ️ Check
Review the switch configuration to determine if it automatically audits account enabling. The configuration should look similar to the example below: Step 1: Verify that account records will be sent to an AAA server as shown in the example below: aaa accounting default group RADIUS_SERVERS Step 2: Verify that the referenced group name has defined AAA servers that are online. aaa group server radius RADIUS_SERVERS server 10.1.48.10 server 10.1.48.12 Note: Cisco NX-OS devices report configuration activity to TACACS+ or RADIUS servers in the form of accounting records. Each accounting record contains accounting attribute-value (AV) pairs and is stored on the AAA server. If account enabling is not automatically audited, this is a finding.

ℹ️ Check

Review the switch configuration to determine if it automatically audits account enabling. The configuration should look similar to the example below: Step 1: Verify that account records will be sent to an AAA server as shown in the example below: aaa accounting default group RADIUS_SERVERS Step 2: Verify that the referenced group name has defined AAA servers that are online. aaa group server radius RADIUS_SERVERS server 10.1.48.10 server 10.1.48.12 Note: Cisco NX-OS devices report configuration activity to TACACS+ or RADIUS servers in the form of accounting records. Each accounting record contains accounting attribute-value (AV) pairs and is stored on the AAA server. If account enabling is not automatically audited, this is a finding.

✔️ Fix
Configure the switch to log account enabling using the following steps: Step 1: Configure the AAA servers as shown in the example below: SW1(config)# radius-server host 10.1.48.10 SW1(config)# radius-server host 10.1.48.12 Step 2: Configure an AAA server group as shown in the example below: SW1(config)# aaa group server radius RADIUS_SERVERS SW1(config-radius)# server 10.1.48.10 SW1(config-radius)# server 10.1.48.12 SW1(config-radius)# exit Step 3: Enable AAA accounting as shown in the example below: SW1(config)# aaa accounting default group RADIUS_SERVERS SW1(config)# end

✔️ Fix

Configure the switch to log account enabling using the following steps: Step 1: Configure the AAA servers as shown in the example below: SW1(config)# radius-server host 10.1.48.10 SW1(config)# radius-server host 10.1.48.12 Step 2: Configure an AAA server group as shown in the example below: SW1(config)# aaa group server radius RADIUS_SERVERS SW1(config-radius)# server 10.1.48.10 SW1(config-radius)# server 10.1.48.12 SW1(config-radius)# exit Step 3: Enable AAA accounting as shown in the example below: SW1(config)# aaa accounting default group RADIUS_SERVERS SW1(config)# end