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XCCDF
F5 BIG-IP TMOS ALG Security Technical Implementation Guide
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An XCCDF Profile
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Items
Prose
39 rules organized in 39 groups
SRG-NET-000061-ALG-000009
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance providing intermediary services for remote access communications traffic must ensure inbound and outbound traffic is monitored for compliance with remote access security policies.
Medium Severity
Automated monitoring of remote access traffic allows organizations to detect cyberattacks and also ensure ongoing compliance with remote access policies by inspecting connection activities of remote access capabilities. Remote access methods include both unencrypted and encrypted traffic (e.g., web portals, web content filter, TLS, and webmail). With inbound TLS inspection, the traffic must be inspected prior to being allowed on the enclave's web servers hosting TLS or HTTPS applications. With outbound traffic inspection, traffic must be inspected prior to being forwarded to destinations outside of the enclave, such as external email traffic.
SRG-NET-000062-ALG-000011
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance providing intermediary services for remote access must use FIPS-validated cryptographic algorithms, including TLS 1.2 at a minimum.
High Severity
Without confidentiality protection mechanisms, unauthorized individuals may gain access to sensitive information via a remote access session. Remote access is access to DOD nonpublic information systems by an authorized user (or an information system) communicating through an external, non-organization-controlled network. Remote access methods include broadband and wireless connections. Remote access methods include, for example, proxied remote encrypted traffic (e.g., TLS gateways, web content filters, and webmail proxies). Encryption provides a means to secure the remote connection to prevent unauthorized access to the data traversing the remote access connection, thereby providing a degree of confidentiality. The encryption strength of the mechanism is selected based on the security categorization of the information. This requirement applies to ALGs providing remote access proxy services as part of its intermediary services (e.g., OWA or SSL VPN gateway). Satisfies: SRG-NET-000062-ALG-000011, SRG-NET-000062-ALG-000150, SRG-NET-000063-ALG-000012, SRG-NET-000230-ALG-000113, SRG-NET-000355-ALG-000117
SRG-NET-000318-ALG-000014
1 Rule
To protect against data mining, the F5 BIG-IP appliance providing content filtering must prevent code injection attacks from being launched against data storage objects, including, at a minimum, databases, database records, queries, and fields.
Medium Severity
Data mining is the analysis of large quantities of data to discover patterns and is used in intelligence gathering. Failure to prevent attacks launched against organizational information from unauthorized data mining may result in the compromise of information. Injection attacks allow an attacker to inject code into a program or query or inject malware onto a computer to execute remote commands that can read or modify a database or change data on a website. Web applications frequently access databases to store, retrieve, and update information. An attacker can construct inputs that the database will execute. This is most commonly referred to as a code injection attack. This type of attack includes XPath and LDAP injections. Compliance requires the ALG to have the capability to prevent code injections. Examples include a Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) or database application gateways. Satisfies: SRG-NET-000318-ALG-000014, SRG-NET-000319-ALG-000015
SRG-NET-000318-ALG-000151
1 Rule
To protect against data mining, the F5 BIG-IP appliance providing content filtering must prevent code injection attacks launched against application objects including, at a minimum, application URLs and application code.
Medium Severity
Data mining is the analysis of large quantities of data to discover patterns and is used in intelligence gathering. Failure to prevent attacks launched against organizational information from unauthorized data mining may result in the compromise of information. Injection attacks allow an attacker to inject code into a program or query or inject malware onto a computer to execute remote commands that can read or modify a database or change data on a website. These attacks include buffer overrun, XML, JavaScript, and HTML injections. Compliance requires the ALG to have the capability to prevent code injections. Examples include a Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) or database application gateways. Satisfies: SRG-NET-000318-ALG-000151, SRG-NET-000319-ALG-000153
SRG-NET-000318-ALG-000152
1 Rule
To protect against data mining, the F5 BIG-IP appliance providing content filtering must prevent SQL injection attacks launched against data storage objects, including, at a minimum, databases, database records, and database fields.
Medium Severity
Data mining is the analysis of large quantities of data to discover patterns and is used in intelligence gathering. Failure to prevent attacks launched against organizational information from unauthorized data mining may result in the compromise of information. SQL injection attacks are the most prevalent attacks against web applications and databases. These attacks inject SQL commands that can read, modify, or compromise the meaning of the original SQL query. An attacker can spoof identity; expose, tamper, destroy, or make existing data unavailable; or gain unauthorized privileges on the database server. Compliance requires the ALG to have the capability to prevent SQL code injections. Examples include a Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) or database application gateways. Satisfies: SRG-NET-000318-ALG-000152, SRG-NET-000319-ALG-000020
SRG-NET-000015-ALG-000016
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance providing user access control intermediary services must enforce approved authorizations for logical access to information and system resources by employing identity-based, role-based, and/or attribute-based security policies.
High Severity
Successful authentication must not automatically give an entity access to an asset or security boundary. The lack of authorization-based access control could result in the immediate compromise of and unauthorized access to sensitive information. All DOD systems must be properly configured to incorporate access control methods that do not rely solely on authentication for authorized access. Authorization is the process of determining whether an entity, once authenticated, is permitted to access a specific asset. Information systems use access control policies and enforcement mechanisms to implement this requirement. Authorization procedures and controls must be implemented to ensure each authenticated entity also has a validated and current authorization. Access control policies include identity-based policies, role-based policies, and attribute-based policies. Access enforcement mechanisms include access control lists, access control matrices, and cryptography. ALGs must use these policies and mechanisms to control access on behalf of the application for which it is acting as intermediary.
SRG-NET-000018-ALG-000017
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance providing user access control intermediary services must implement attribute- and content-based inspection of the source, destination, headers, and/or content of the communications traffic.
High Severity
Information flow control regulates where information is allowed to travel within a network. The flow of all network traffic must be monitored and controlled so it does not introduce any unacceptable risk to the network infrastructure or data. Information flow control policies and enforcement mechanisms are commonly employed by organizations to control the flow of information between designated sources and destinations (e.g., networks, individuals, devices) within information systems. Examples of information flow control restrictions include keeping export controlled information from being transmitted in the clear to the internet or blocking information marked as classified but is being transported to an unapproved destination. ALGs enforce approved authorizations by employing security policy and/or rules that restrict information system services, provide packet filtering capability based on header or protocol information and/or message filtering capability based on data content (e.g., implementing key word searches or using document characteristics). Satisfies: SRG-NET-000018-ALG-000017, SRG-NET-000019-ALG-000018
SRG-NET-000041-ALG-000022
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance providing user access control intermediary services must display the Standard Mandatory DOD-approved Notice and Consent Banner before granting access to the network.
Medium Severity
Display of a standardized and approved use notification before granting access to the network ensures privacy and security notification verbiage used is consistent with applicable federal laws, Executive Orders, directives, policies, regulations, standards, and guidance. System use notifications are required only for access via logon interfaces with human users and are not required when such human interfaces do not exist. This requirement applies to network elements that have the concept of a user account and have the logon function residing on the network element. The banner must be formatted in accordance with DTM-08-060. Use the following verbiage for network elements that can accommodate banners of 1300 characters: "You are accessing a U.S. Government (USG) Information System (IS) that is provided for USG-authorized use only. By using this IS (which includes any device attached to this IS), you consent to the following conditions: -The USG routinely intercepts and monitors communications on this IS for purposes including, but not limited to, penetration testing, COMSEC monitoring, network operations and defense, personnel misconduct (PM), law enforcement (LE), and counterintelligence (CI) investigations. -At any time, the USG may inspect and seize data stored on this IS. -Communications using, or data stored on, this IS are not private, are subject to routine monitoring, interception, and search, and may be disclosed or used for any USG-authorized purpose. -This IS includes security measures (e.g., authentication and access controls) to protect USG interests--not for your personal benefit or privacy. -Notwithstanding the above, using this IS does not constitute consent to PM, LE or CI investigative searching or monitoring of the content of privileged communications, or work product, related to personal representation or services by attorneys, psychotherapists, or clergy, and their assistants. Such communications and work product are private and confidential. See User Agreement for details." Use the following verbiage for operating systems that have severe limitations on the number of characters that can be displayed in the banner: "I've read & consent to terms in IS user agreem't." This policy only applies to ALGs (e.g., identity management or authentication gateways) that provide user account services as part of the intermediary services. Satisfies: SRG-NET-000041-ALG-000022, SRG-NET-000042-ALG-000023, SRG-NET-000043-ALG-000024
SRG-NET-000492-ALG-000027
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance must generate event log records that can be forwarded to the centralized events log.
Medium Severity
Without generating audit records that log usage of objects by subjects and other objects, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident, or identify those responsible for one. The device logs internal users associated with denied outgoing communications traffic posing a threat to external information systems. Audit records can be generated from various components within the information system (e.g., module or policy filter). Security objects are data objects which are controlled by security policy and bound to security attributes. Satisfies: SRG-NET-000492-ALG-000027, SRG-NET-000494-ALG-000029, SRG-NET-000495-ALG-000030, SRG-NET-000496-ALG-000031, SRG-NET-000497-ALG-000032, SRG-NET-000498-ALG-000033, SRG-NET-000499-ALG-000034, SRG-NET-000500-ALG-000035, SRG-NET-000501-ALG-000036, SRG-NET-000502-ALG-000037, SRG-NET-000503-ALG-000038, SRG-NET-000505-ALG-000039, SRG-NET-000513-ALG-000026, SRG-NET-000074-ALG-000043, SRG-NET-000075-ALG-000044, SRG-NET-000076-ALG-000045, SRG-NET-000077-ALG-000046, SRG-NET-000078-ALG-000047, SRG-NET-000079-ALG-000048, SRG-NET-000249-ALG-000146, SRG-NET-000383-ALG-000135, SRG-NET-000385-ALG-000138, SRG-NET-000392-ALG-000141, SRG-NET-000392-ALG-000142, SRG-NET-000392-ALG-000143, SRG-NET-000392-ALG-000147, SRG-NET-000392-ALG-000148, SRG-NET-000392-ALG-000149, SRG-NET-000370-ALG-000125
SRG-NET-000512-ALG-000064
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance that provides intermediary services for SMTP must inspect inbound and outbound SMTP and Extended SMTP communications traffic for protocol compliance and protocol anomalies.
Medium Severity
Application protocol anomaly detection examines application layer protocols such as SMTP to identify attacks based on observed deviations in the normal RFC behavior of a protocol or service. This type of monitoring allows for the detection of known and unknown exploits which exploit weaknesses of commonly used protocols. Since protocol anomaly analysis examines the application payload for patterns or anomalies, an SMTP proxy must be included in the ALG. This ALG will be configured to inspect inbound and outbound SMTP and extended SMTP communications traffic to detect protocol anomalies such as malformed message and command insertion attacks.
SRG-NET-000512-ALG-000065
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance that intermediary services for FTP must inspect inbound and outbound FTP communications traffic for protocol compliance and protocol anomalies.
Medium Severity
Application protocol anomaly detection examines application layer protocols such as FTP to identify attacks based on observed deviations in the normal RFC behavior of a protocol or service. This type of monitoring allows for the detection of known and unknown exploits which exploit weaknesses of commonly used protocols. Since protocol anomaly analysis examines the application payload for patterns or anomalies, an FTP proxy must be included in the ALG. This ALG will be configured to inspect inbound and outbound FTP communications traffic to detect protocol anomalies such as malformed message and command insertion attacks.
SRG-NET-000512-ALG-000066
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance that provides intermediary services for HTTP must inspect inbound and outbound HTTP traffic for protocol compliance and protocol anomalies.
Medium Severity
Application protocol anomaly detection examines application layer protocols such as HTTP to identify attacks based on observed deviations in the normal RFC behavior of a protocol or service. This type of monitoring allows for the detection of known and unknown exploits which exploit weaknesses of commonly used protocols. Since protocol anomaly analysis examines the application payload for patterns or anomalies, an HTTP proxy must be included in the ALG. This ALG will be configured to inspect inbound and outbound HTTP communications traffic to detect protocol anomalies such as malformed message and command insertion attacks. All inbound and outbound traffic, including HTTPS, must be inspected. However, the intention of this policy is not to mandate HTTPS inspection by the ALG. Typically, HTTPS traffic is inspected either at the source, destination and/or is directed for inspection by organizationally-defined network termination point.
SRG-NET-000132-ALG-000087
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance must be configured to prohibit or restrict the use of unnecessary or prohibited functions, ports, protocols, and/or services, including those defined in the PPSM CAL and vulnerability assessments.
High Severity
To prevent unauthorized connection of devices, unauthorized transfer of information, or unauthorized tunneling (i.e., embedding of data types within data types), organizations must disable or restrict unused or unnecessary physical and logical ports/protocols on information systems. ALGs are capable of providing a wide variety of functions and services. Some of the functions and services provided by default may not be necessary to support essential organizational operations. DOD continually assesses the ports, protocols, and services that can be used for network communications. Some ports, protocols or services have known exploits or security weaknesses. Network traffic using these ports, protocols, and services must be prohibited or restricted in accordance with DOD policy. The ALG is a key network element for preventing these noncompliant ports, protocols, and services from causing harm to DOD information systems. The network ALG must be configured to prevent or restrict the use of prohibited ports, protocols, and services throughout the network by filtering the network traffic and disallowing or redirecting traffic as necessary. Default and updated policy filters from the vendors will disallow older version of protocols and applications and will address most known nonsecure ports, protocols, and/or services. However, sources for further policy filters are the IAVMs and the PPSM requirements. Satisfies: SRG-NET-000132-ALG-000087, SRG-NET-000131-ALG-000085
F5BI-AP-300046
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance providing user authentication intermediary services must require users to reauthenticate when the user's role or information authorizations is changed.
Medium Severity
Without reauthentication, users may access resources or perform tasks for which they do not have authorization. In addition to the reauthentication requirements associated with session locks, organizations may require reauthentication of individuals and/or devices in other situations, including (but not limited to) the following circumstances: 1. When authenticators change; 2. When roles change; 3. When security categories of information systems change; 4. When the execution of privileged functions occurs; 5. After a fixed period of time; 6. Periodically. Within the DOD, the minimum circumstances requiring reauthentication are privilege escalation and role changes. This requirement only applies to components where this is specific to the function of the device or has the concept of user authentication (e.g., VPN or ALG capability). This does not apply to authentication for the purpose of configuring the device itself (i.e., device management).
SRG-NET-000138-ALG-000063
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance providing user authentication intermediary services must uniquely identify and authenticate users using redundant authentication servers and multifactor authentication (MFA).
High Severity
To ensure accountability and prevent unauthenticated access, organizational users must be identified and authenticated to prevent potential misuse and compromise of the system. Organizational users include organizational employees or individuals the organization deems to have equivalent status of employees (e.g., contractors). Organizational users (and any processes acting on behalf of users) must be uniquely identified and authenticated for all accesses except the following. 1. Accesses explicitly identified and documented by the organization. Organizations document specific user actions that can be performed on the information system without identification or authentication. 2. Accesses that occur through authorized use of group authenticators without individual authentication. Organizations may require unique identification of individuals in group accounts (e.g., shared privilege accounts) or for detailed accountability of individual activity. This requirement applies to ALGs that provide user proxy services, including identification and authentication. This service must use the site's directory service (e.g., Active Directory). Directory services must not be installed onto the gateway. Satisfies: SRG-NET-000138-ALG-000063, SRG-NET-000138-ALG-000088, SRG-NET-000339-ALG-000090, SRG-NET-000340-ALG-000091, SRG-NET-000140-ALG-000094, SRG-NET-000166-ALG-000101, SRG-NET-000169-ALG-000102
SRG-NET-000164-ALG-000100
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance must configure certification path validation to ensure revoked machine credentials are prohibited from establishing an allowed session.
High Severity
A certificate's certification path is the path from the end entity certificate to a trusted root certification authority (CA). Certification path validation is necessary for a relying party to make an informed decision regarding acceptance of an end entity certificate. Certification path validation includes checks such as certificate issuer trust, time validity and revocation status for each certificate in the certification path. Revocation status information for CA and subject certificates in a certification path is commonly provided via certificate revocation lists (CRLs) or online certificate status protocol (OCSP) responses.
SRG-NET-000345-ALG-000099
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance providing user authentication intermediary services using PKI-based user authentication must implement a local cache of revocation data to support path discovery and validation in case of the inability to access revocation information via the network.
Medium Severity
Without configuring a local cache of revocation data, there is the potential to allow access to users who are no longer authorized (users with revoked certificates). The intent of this requirement is to require support for a secondary certificate validation method using a locally cached revocation data, such as Certificate Revocation List (CRL), in case access to OCSP (required by CCI-000185) is not available. Based on a risk assessment, an alternate mitigation is to configure the system to deny access when revocation data is unavailable. This requirement applies to ALGs that provide user authentication intermediary services (e.g., authentication gateway or TLS gateway). This does not apply to authentication for the purpose of configuring the device itself (device management).
SRG-NET-000213-ALG-000107
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance must terminate all network connections associated with a communications session at the end of the session or after 15 minutes of inactivity.
High Severity
Terminating an idle session within a short time period reduces the window of opportunity for unauthorized personnel to take control of a management session enabled on the console or console port that has been left unattended. Quickly terminating an idle session will also free up resources committed by the managed network element. Terminating network connections associated with communications sessions includes, for example, deallocating associated TCP/IP address/port pairs at the operating system level and deallocating networking assignments at the application level if multiple application sessions are using a single operating system-level network connection. ALGs may provide session control functionality as part of content filtering, load balancing, or proxy services.
SRG-NET-000362-ALG-000112
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance providing content filtering must employ rate-based attack prevention behavior analysis.
Medium Severity
If the network does not provide safeguards against denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, network resources will be unavailable to users. Installation of content filtering gateways and application layer firewalls at key boundaries in the architecture mitigates the risk of DoS attacks. These attacks can be detected by matching observed communications traffic with patterns of known attacks and monitoring for anomalies in traffic volume/type. Detection components that use rate-based behavior analysis can detect attacks when signatures for the attack do not exist or are not installed. These attacks include zero-day attacks which are new attacks for which vendors have not yet developed signatures. Rate-based behavior analysis can detect sophisticated, distributed DoS (DDoS) attacks by correlating traffic information from multiple network segments or components. This requirement applies to the communications traffic functionality of the ALG as it pertains to handling communications traffic, rather than to the ALG device itself. Satisfies: SRG-NET-000362-ALG-000112, SRG-NET-000362-ALG-000126, SRG-NET-000192-ALG-000121
SRG-NET-000362-ALG-000155
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance providing content filtering must protect against or limit the effects of known and unknown types of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks by employing pattern recognition pre-processors.
Medium Severity
If the network does not provide safeguards against DoS attacks, network resources will be unavailable to users. Installation of content filtering gateways and application layer firewalls at key boundaries in the architecture mitigates the risk of DoS attacks. These attacks can be detected by matching observed communications traffic with patterns of known attacks. Detection components that use pattern recognition pre-processors can detect attacks when signatures for the attack do not exist or are not installed. These attacks include zero-day attacks which are new attacks for which vendors have not yet developed signatures. This requirement applies to the communications traffic functionality of the ALG as it pertains to handling communications traffic, rather than to the ALG device itself.
SRG-NET-000401-ALG-000127
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance must check the validity of all data inputs except those specifically identified by the organization.
Medium Severity
Invalid user input occurs when a user inserts data or characters into an application's data entry fields and the application is unprepared to process that data. This results in unanticipated application behavior potentially leading to an application or information system compromise. Invalid input is one of the primary methods employed when attempting to compromise an application. Network devices with the functionality to perform application layer inspection may be leveraged to validate data content of network communications. Checking the valid syntax and semantics of information system inputs (e.g., character set, length, numerical range, and acceptable values) verifies that inputs match specified definitions for format and content. Software typically follows well-defined protocols that use structured messages (i.e., commands or queries) to communicate between software modules or system components. Structured messages can contain raw or unstructured data interspersed with metadata or control information. If network elements use attacker-supplied inputs to construct structured messages without properly encoding such messages, then the attacker could insert malicious commands or special characters that can cause the data to be interpreted as control information or metadata. Consequently, the module or component that receives the tainted output will perform the wrong operations or otherwise interpret the data incorrectly. Pre-screening inputs prior to passing to interpreters prevents the content from being unintentionally interpreted as commands. Input validation helps to ensure accurate and correct inputs and prevent attacks such as cross-site scripting and a variety of injection attacks. This requirement applies to gateways and firewalls that perform content inspection or have higher-layer proxy functionality.
SRG-NET-000251-ALG-000131
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance providing content filtering must automatically update malicious code protection mechanisms.
Medium Severity
The malicious software detection functionality on network elements needs to be constantly updated to identify new threats as they are discovered. All malicious software detection functions must come with an update mechanism that automatically updates the application and any associated signature definitions. The organization (including any contractor to the organization) is required to promptly install security-relevant malicious code protection updates. Examples of relevant updates include antivirus signatures, detection heuristic rule sets, and/or file reputation data employed to identify and/or block malicious software from executing. Malicious code includes viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and spyware. This requirement is limited to ALGs, web content filters, and packet inspection firewalls that perform malicious code detection as part of their functionality.
SRG-NET-000384-ALG-000136
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance providing content filtering must detect use of network services that have not been authorized or approved by the information system security manager (ISSM) and information system security officer (ISSO), at a minimum.
Medium Severity
Unauthorized or unapproved network services lack organizational verification or validation, and therefore may be unreliable or serve as malicious rogues for valid services. Examples of network services include service-oriented architectures (SOAs), cloud-based services (e.g., infrastructure as a service, platform as a service, or software as a service), cross-domain, Voice Over Internet Protocol, Instant Messaging, auto-execute, and file sharing. To comply with this requirement, the ALG may be configured to detect services either directly or indirectly (i.e., by detecting traffic associated with a service). This requirement applies to gateways/firewalls that perform content inspection or have higher-layer proxy functionality.
SRG-NET-000385-ALG-000137
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance providing content filtering must generate a log record when unauthorized network services are detected.
Medium Severity
Unauthorized or unapproved network services lack organizational verification or validation, and therefore may be unreliable or serve as malicious rogues for valid services. Examples of network services include service-oriented architectures (SOAs), cloud-based services (e.g., infrastructure as a service, platform as a service, or software as a service), cross-domain, Voice Over Internet Protocol, instant messaging, auto-execute, and file sharing.
SRG-NET-000233-ALG-000115
1 Rule
When the Access Profile Type is LTM+APM and it is not using any connectivity resources (such as Network Access, Portal Access, etc.) in the VPE, the F5 BIG-IP appliance must be configured to enable the HTTP Only flag.
Low Severity
To guard against cookie hijacking, only the BIG-IP APM controller and client must be able to view the full session ID. Setting the APM HTTP Only flag ensures that a third party will not have access to the active session cookies. This option is only applicable to the LTM+APM access profile type. Other access profile types require access to various session cookies to fully function. Sites must conduct operational testing prior to enabling this setting. For implementations with connectivity resources (such as Network Access, Portal Access, etc.), do not set BIG-IP APM cookies with the HTTP Only flag.
SRG-NET-000233-ALG-000115
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance must be configured to enable the secure cookie flag.
Low Severity
To guard against cookie hijacking, only the BIG-IP APM controller and client must be able to view the full session ID. Session cookies are set only after the SSL handshake between the BIG-IP APM system and the user has completed, ensuring that the session cookies are protected from interception with SSL encryption. To ensure that the client browser will not send session cookies unencrypted, the HTTP header that the BIG-IP APM uses when sending the session cookie is set with the secure option (default). This option is only applicable to the LTM+APM access profile type.
SRG-NET-000233-ALG-000115
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance must be configured to disable the persistent cookie flag.
Low Severity
For BIG-IP APM deployments with connectivity resources (such as Network Access, Portal Access, etc.), BIG-IP APM cookies cannot be set as Persistent. This is by design since cookies are stored locally on the client's hard disk, and thus could be exposed to unauthorized external access. For some deployments of the BIG-IP APM system, cookie persistence may be required. When selecting cookie persistence, persistence is hard coded at 60 seconds.
SRG-NET-000164-ALG-000100
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance must configure certificate path validation to ensure revoked user credentials are prohibited from establishing an allowed session.
High Severity
A certificate's certification path is the path from the end entity certificate to a trusted root certification authority (CA). Certification path validation is necessary for a relying party to make an informed decision regarding acceptance of an end entity certificate. Certification path validation includes checks such as certificate issuer trust, time validity and revocation status for each certificate in the certification path. Revocation status information for CA and subject certificates in a certification path is commonly provided via certificate revocation lists (CRLs) or online certificate status protocol (OCSP) responses.
SRG-NET-000230-ALG-000113
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance must not use the On-demand Cert Auth VPE agent as part of the APM Policy Profiles.
Medium Severity
By requiring mutual authentication before any communication, it becomes significantly challenging for attackers to impersonate a client or server and exploit vulnerabilities. Furthermore, the encryption of all data transmitted between the client and server ensures that even if an attacker intercepts the data, it remains unintelligible without the correct keys. To ensure the use of the mTLS for session authentication, do not use the On-Demand Cert Auth VPE agent. Typically, when a client makes an HTTPS request, an SSL handshake request occurs at the start of an SSL session. However, if On-Demand is configured, the client SSL profile skips the initial SSL handshake, an On-Demand Cert Auth action can re-negotiate the SSL connection from an access policy by sending a certificate request to the user. This prompts a certificate screen to open. Setting ODCA to "require" the client cert means the client cannot get any farther in the APM VPE without providing a valid certificate. "Request" would ask the client for a certificate, but the client could still continue if they did not provide one. Thus, the Client Certificate must be set to "require" in the client SSL profile since just removing ODCA from the VPE alone will result in the client never getting prompted for a certificate. Within the Virtual Policy Editor (VPE) of the relevant Access Profile, do not use the On-Demand Cert Auth VPE agent. Configure only the Client Certification Inspection VPE Agent. This adjustment directs the BIG-IP to scrutinize the Client Certificate during the mTLS handshake process and extract the certificate's details into APM session variables.
SRG-NET-000230-ALG-000113
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance must be configured to restrict a consistent inbound IP for the entire management session.
Medium Severity
This security measure helps limit the effects of denial-of-service attacks by employing antisession hijacking security safeguards. Session hijacking, also called cookie hijacking, is the exploitation of a valid computer session to gain unauthorized access to an application. The attacker steals (or hijacks) the cookies from a valid user and attempts to use them for authentication.
SRG-NET-000230-ALG-000113
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance must be configured to limit authenticated client sessions to initial session source IP.
Low Severity
The "Restrict to Single Client IP” is a safeguard against session hijacking or cookie theft. Even if an attacker manages to steal a session cookie, the cookie cannot be used from a different source IP address that the address used to initiate the session. This security measure is set within the APM Access Profiles. This setting has been recommended by F5 as a defense-in-depth measure. However, in some networks, this may result in false positives or rejection of legitimate connections. Users behind a shared proxy address may be denied access. Thus, sites must test this setting within their network prior to implementing to determine if there are operational impacts that prevent the use of this setting. If so, the site must document the impacts and get approval from the authorizing official (AO) if this required setting will not be implemented.
F5BI-AP-300158
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance must be configured to set a Maximum Session Timeout value of eight hours or less.
Medium Severity
The Maximum Session Timeout setting configures a limit on the maximum amount of time a user's session is active without needing to reauthenticate. If the value is set to zero, the user's session is active until either the user terminates the session or the Inactivity Timeout value is reached (the default value is set to 604,800 seconds). When determining how long the maximum user session can last, it may be useful to review the access policy. For example, if the access policy requires that the user's antivirus signatures cannot be older than eight hours, the Maximum Session Timeout must not exceed that time limit. This is an APM Policy setting, which applies to APM authentication profiles for Virtual Servers and SSL VPN.
SRG-NET-000510-ALG-000111
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance must be configured to use cryptographic algorithms approved by NSA to protect NSS for remote access to a classified network.
High Severity
Use of weak or untested encryption algorithms undermines the purposes of utilizing encryption to protect data. The VPN gateway must implement cryptographic modules adhering to the higher standards approved by the Federal Government since this provides assurance they have been tested and validated. NIST cryptographic algorithms are approved by NSA to protect NSS. Based on an analysis of the impact of quantum computing, cryptographic algorithms specified by CNSSP-15 and approved for use in products in the CSfC program have been changed to more stringent protocols and configured with increased bit sizes and other secure characteristics to protect against quantum computing threats. The Commercial National Security Algorithm Suite (CNSA Suite) replaces Suite B.
SRG-NET-000512-ALG-000062
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP must be configured to identify and authenticate all endpoint devices or peers before establishing a connection.
Medium Severity
Without identifying and authenticating devices, unidentified or unknown devices may be introduced, thereby facilitating malicious activity.
SRG-NET-000512-ALG-000062
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance providing remote access intermediary services must disable split-tunneling for remote clients' VPNs.
Medium Severity
Split tunneling would in effect allow unauthorized external connections, making the system more vulnerable to attack and to exfiltration of organizational information. A VPN hardware or software client with split tunneling enabled provides an unsecured backdoor to the enclave from the internet. With split tunneling enabled, a remote client has access to the internet while at the same time has established a secured path to the enclave via an IPsec tunnel. A remote client connected to the internet that has been compromised by an attacker on the internet, provides an attack base to the enclave’s private network via the IPsec tunnel. Hence, it is imperative that the VPN gateway enforces a no split-tunneling policy to all remote clients.
SRG-NET-000512-ALG-000062
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance providing remote access intermediary services must be configured to route sessions to an IDPS for inspection.
Medium Severity
Remote access devices, such as those providing remote access to network devices and information systems, which lack automated, capabilities increase risk and makes remote user access management difficult at best. Remote access is access to DOD nonpublic information systems by an authorized user (or an information system) communicating through an external, non-organization-controlled network. Automated monitoring of remote access sessions allows organizations to detect cyberattacks and ensure ongoing compliance with remote access policies by auditing connection activities of remote access capabilities, from a variety of information system components (e.g., servers, workstations, notebook computers, smart phones, and tablets).
SRG-NET-000512-ALG-000062
1 Rule
The VPN Gateway must use Always On VPN connections for remote computing.
Medium Severity
Allowing remote users to manually toggle a VPN connection can create critical security risks. With Always On VPN, if a secured connection to the gateway is lost, hybrid-working users will simply be disconnected from the internet until the issue is solved. "Always On" is a term that describes a VPN connection that is secure and always on after the initial connection is established. An Always On VPN deployment establishes a VPN connection with the client without the need for user interaction (e.g., user credentials). The remote client must not be able to access the Internet without first established a VPN session with a DOD site. Note that device compliance checks are still required prior to connecting to DOD resources. Although out of scope for this requirement, the connection process must ensure that remote devices meet security standards before accessing DOD resources. Devices that fail to meet compliance requirements can be denied access, reducing the risk of compromised endpoints.
SRG-NET-000053-ALG-000001
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance must be configured to set the "Max In Progress Sessions per Client IP" value to 10 or an organizational-defined number.
Low Severity
The "Max In Progress Sessions Per Client IP" setting in an APM Access Profile is a security configuration that limits the number of simultaneous sessions that can be initiated from a single IP address. This is particularly helpful in preventing a session flood, where a hacker might attempt to overwhelm the system by initiating many sessions from a single source. By capping the number of sessions per IP, this setting can help maintain the system's stability and integrity while also providing a layer of protection against such potential attacks. This setting has been recommended by F5 as a defense-in-depth measure. However, in some networks, narrowing the number of in progress sessions may in adverse impacts on legitimate connections. Thus, sites must test this setting within their network prior to implementing to determine the minimum acceptable number. This should not remain at the very high default value and should not be excessively high. Document the organizational value.
SRG-NET-000053-ALG-000001
1 Rule
The F5 BIG-IP appliance providing user access control intermediary services must limit the number of concurrent sessions to one or an organization-defined number for each access profile.
Medium Severity
The "Max In Progress Sessions Per Client IP" setting in an APM Access Profile is a security configuration that limits the number of simultaneous sessions that can be initiated from a single IP address. This is particularly helpful in preventing a session flood, where a hacker might attempt to overwhelm the system by initiating many sessions from a single source. By capping the number of sessions per IP, this setting can help maintain the system's stability and integrity while also providing a layer of protection against such potential attacks. False positives may result from this setting in networks where users are behind a shared proxy. Sites must conduct operational testing to determine if there are adverse operational impacts. View Log reports to identify recurring IP sources within the user community. Max In Progress Sessions per Client IP represents the maximum number of sessions that can be in progress for a client IP address. When setting this value, take into account whether users will come from a NAT-ed or proxied client address and, if so, increase the value accordingly.