V-284892

Discussion

If the application allows the user to consecutively reuse extensive portions of passwords, this increases the chances of password compromise by increasing the window of opportunity for attempts at guessing and brute-force attacks. The number of changed characters refers to the number of changes required with respect to the total number of positions in the current password. In other words, characters may be the same within the two passwords; however, the positions of the like characters must be different. Multifactor authentication (MFA) is required for all administrative and user accounts on network devices, except for an account of last resort. Passwords should only be used when MFA using PKI is not available, and for the account of last resort.

Check Content

Review the Password Policy configuration of the Cisco SNA appliance. 

Navigate to SNA Dashboard >> Central Management >> Inventory >> Actions... >> Edit Appliance Configuration >> General >> Password Policy >> Number of Characters Different From Previous Password. Verify the number is "8" or greater.

If the Cisco SNA appliance does not require that when a local account password is changed, the characters are changed in at least eight of the positions within the password, this is a finding.