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ARST-RT-000120 - The Arista multicast router must be configured to disable Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) on all interfaces that are not required to support multicast routing.

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Information

If multicast traffic is forwarded beyond the intended boundary, it is possible that it can be intercepted by unauthorized or unintended personnel. Limiting where, within the network, a given multicast group's data is permitted to flow is an important first step in improving multicast security.

A scope zone is an instance of a connected region of a given scope. Zones of the same scope cannot overlap while zones of a smaller scope will fit completely within a zone of a larger scope. For example, Admin-local scope is smaller than Site-local scope, so the administratively configured boundary fits within the bounds of a site. According to RFC 4007 IPv6 Scoped Address Architecture (section 5), scope zones are also required to be 'convex from a routing perspective'; that is, packets routed within a zone must not pass through any links that are outside of the zone. This requirement forces each zone to be one contiguous island rather than a series of separate islands.

As stated in the DOD IPv6 IA Guidance for MO3, 'One should be able to identify all interfaces of a zone by drawing a closed loop on their network diagram, engulfing some routers and passing through some routers to include only some of their interfaces.' Therefore, it is imperative that the network engineers have documented their multicast topology and thereby knows which interfaces are enabled for multicast. Once this is done, the zones can be scoped as required.

NOTE: Nessus has provided the target output to assist in reviewing the benchmark to ensure target compliance.

Solution

Document all enabled interfaces for PIM in the network's multicast topology diagram. Disable support for PIM on interfaces that are not required to support it.

Step 1: Configure the router in global configuration mode to support multicast routing.

router(config)#router multicast
router(config-router-multicast)#ipv4
router(config-router-multicast-ipv4)#routing
router(config-router-multicast-ipv4)#exit
router(config-router-multicast)#exit

Step 2: Enable PIM on interfaces required to support multicast.

Interfaces have PIM disabled by default. To enable PIM from an interface active in a multicast network, enter 'pim sparse-mode' in the interface configuration mode.

router(config)#interface Ethernet1
router(config-if-Et1)#pim ipv4 sparse-mode
router(config-if-Et1)#pim ipv6 sparse-mode

Step 3: Disable support for PIM on interfaces that are not required to support it.

router(config)#interface Ethernet2
router(config-if-Et2)#no pim ipv4 sparse-mode
router(config-if-Et2)#no pim ipv6 sparse-mode

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_Arista_MLS_EOS_4-2x_Y23M02_STIG.zip

Item Details

References: CAT|II, CCI|CCI-001414, Rule-ID|SV-255998r882336_rule, STIG-ID|ARST-RT-000120, Vuln-ID|V-255998

Plugin: Arista

Control ID: 88da7fda519630fb309059fef7568191f3b7a96f8eebed26068a33a638b2eb6c