PowerOn Auto Provisioning (POAP) allows the switch to be auto-provisioned at the time of power-on. This can be extremely useful in a tightly controlled environment, with a solid 'network as code' mindset and dev-ops procedures in place for network operations. Rationale: Impact: Without solid procedures and a well-controlled environment, POAP provides a malicious actor the ability to compromise a switch as it is being deployed out of the box. This 'day 0' approach to compromising gives the attacker control of the switch from the start - it can be difficult to detect that this has occurred, and may require physical access to gain control back.
Solution
To disable POAP, use the command: switch(config)# no boot poap enable Default Value: POAP is not enabled by default. The 'boot poap' configuration line does not show in the running or startup configuration if it is disabled, only if it is enabled.