CC Certificate 

Security Target 

Validation Report 

Assurance Activity 

Administrative Guide: Cisco Catalyst 8200 and 8500 Series Edge Routers (Cat8200, Cat8500) CC Configuration Guide 

Administrative Guide: MACSEC and MKA Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS XE 17 

The Cisco Catalyst 8200 and 8500 Series Edge Routers (herein after referred to as the Cat8200 and Cat8500 respectively) are purpose-built, routing platforms that includes VPN functionality and MACsec encryption provided by the Cisco IOS-XE software

The TOE consists of one or more physical device and includes Cisco IOS-XE version 17.6 software. The TOE has two or more network interfaces and is connected to at least one internal and one external network. The Cisco IOS-XE configuration determines how packets are handled to and from the TOE’s network interfaces.  The router configuration will determine how traffic flows received on an interface will be handled. Typically, packet flows are passed through the internetworking device and forwarded to their configured destination.

The TOE consists of one physical device and includes Cisco IOS-XE version 17.6 software. The TOE has two or more network interfaces and is connected to at least one internal and one external network. 

The Cisco IOS-XE configuration determines how packets are handled to and from the TOE’s network interfaces.  The router configuration will determine how traffic flows received on an interface will be handled. Typically, packet flows are passed through the internetworking device and forwarded to their configured destination.

In addition, if the Catalyst 8200/8500 Series Switches are to be remotely administered, then the management workstation must be connected to an internal network.  SSHv2 is used to securely connect to the switch.  A syslog server is used to store audit records, where IPsec is used to secure the transmission of the records.  If these servers are used, they must be attached to the internal (trusted) network.  The internal (trusted) network is meant to be separated effectively from unauthorized individuals and user traffic. The internal (trusted) network is in a controlled environment where implementation of security policies can be enforced. MACsec peer which supports MACsec communication. VPN Peer with switch can provide VPN communication.

The evaluation was carried out in accordance with the Common Criteria Evaluation and Validation Scheme (CCEVS) process and scheme. The criteria against which the Catalyst 8200/8500 Series Switches running IOS-XE 17.6 was evaluated are described in the Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation, Version 3.1 rev 5.  The evaluation methodology used by the evaluation team to conduct the evaluation is the Common Methodology for Information Technology Security Evaluation, Version 3.1 rev 5.  The product, when delivered configured as identified in the Cisco Catalyst 8200 and 8500 Series Edge Routers, satisfies all of the security functional requirements stated in the Cisco Catalyst 8200 and 8500 Series Edge Routers running IOS-XE 17.6 Security Target, Version 1.0. The project underwent CCEVS Validator review.  The evaluation was completed in March 2023.  Results of the evaluation can be found in the Common Criteria Evaluation and Validation Scheme Validation Report prepared by CCEVS.

The TOE is comprised of the following security features:

•                     Security Audit

•                     Cryptographic Support

•                     Identification and Authentication

•                     Security Management

•                     Packet Filtering

•                     Protection of the TSF

•                     TOE Access

•                     Trusted Path/Channels

These features are described in more detail in the subsections below.  In addition, the TOE implements all RFCs of the CPP_ND_V2.2e, MOD_VPNGW_v1.1 and PP_NDCPP_MACSEC_EPV1.2 as necessary to satisfy testing/assurance measures prescribed therein.

Security Audit

The TOE provides extensive auditing capabilities. The TOE can audit events related to cryptographic functionality, identification and authentication, and administrative actions. The TOE generates an audit record for each auditable event.  Each security relevant audit event has the date, timestamp, event description, and subject identity.  The administrator configures auditable events, performs back-up operations and manages audit data storage.  The TOE provides the administrator with a circular audit trail or a configurable audit trail threshold to track the storage capacity of the audit trail.  Audit logs are backed up over an encrypted channel to an external audit server.

Cryptographic Support

The TOE provides cryptography in support of other TOE security functionality. All the algorithms claimed have CAVP certificates for all processors listed in table 4 of ST.  The TOE leverages the IOS Common Cryptographic Module (IC2M) Rel5a (see Table 1 for certificate references).

Table 1 FIPS References

The TOE provides cryptography in support of VPN connections and remote administrative management via SSHv2 and IPsec to secure the transmission of audit records to the remote syslog server. In addition, IPsec is used to secure the session between the TOE and the authentication servers.

Table 2 TOE Provided Cryptography

The TOE authenticates and encrypts packets between itself and a MACsec peer.  The MACsec Key Agreement (MKA) Protocol provides the required session keys and manages the required encryption keys to protect data exchanged by the peers.

Identification and Authentication

The TOE performs two types of authentications: device-level authentication of the remote device (VPN peers) and user authentication for the Authorized Administrator of the TOE.  Device-level authentication allows the TOE to establish a secure channel with a trusted peer.  The secure channel is established only after each device authenticates the other.  Device-level authentication is performed via IKE/IPsec mutual authentication. The TOE supports use of IKEv1 (ISAKMP) and IKEv2 pre-shared keys for authentication of IPsec tunnels. The TOE uses X.509v3 certificates as defined by RFC 5280 to support authentication for IPsec connections. The IKE phase authentication for the IPsec communication channel between the TOE and authentication server and between the TOE and syslog server is considered part of the Identification and Authentication security functionality of the TOE.  

The TOE provides authentication services for administrative users to connect to the TOE’s secure CLI administrator interface.  The TOE requires Authorized Administrators to authenticate prior to being granted access to any of the management functionality.  The TOE can be configured to require a minimum password length of 15 characters. The TOE provides administrator authentication against a local user database.  Password-based authentication can be performed on the serial console or SSH interfaces.  The SSHv2 interface also supports authentication using SSH keys.  The TOE supports the use of a RADIUS AAA server (part of the IT Environment) for authentication of administrative users attempting to connect to the TOE’s CLI.

The TOE provides an automatic lockout when a user attempts to authenticate and enters invalid information.  After a defined number of authentication attempts fail exceeding the configured allowable attempts, the user is locked out until an authorized administrator can enable the user account. 

Security Management

The TOE provides secure administrative services for management of general TOE configuration and the security functionality provided by the TOE.  All TOE administration occurs either through a secure SSHv2 session or via a local console connection.  The TOE provides the ability to securely manage:

·       Administration of the TOE locally and remotely.

·       All TOE administrative users.

·       All identification and authentication.

·       All audit functionality of the TOE.

·       All TOE cryptographic functionality.

·       The timestamps maintained by the TOE.

·       Update to the TOE and verification of the updates.

·       Configuration of IPsec functionality.

The TOE supports two separate administrator roles: non-privileged administrator and privileged administrator.  Only the privileged administrator can perform the above security relevant management functions. Management of the TSF data is restricted to Security Administrators. The ability to enable, disable, determine and modify the behavior of all of the security functions of the TOE is restricted to authorized administrators.

Administrators can create configurable login banners to be displayed at time of login and can also define an inactivity timeout for each admin interface to terminate sessions after a set period of inactivity.

Packet Filtering

The TOE provides packet filtering and secure IPsec tunneling.  The tunnels can be established between two trusted VPN peers.  More accurately, these tunnels are sets of security associations (SAs).  The SAs define the protocols and algorithms to be applied to sensitive packets and specify the keying material to be used.  SAs are unidirectional and are established per the ESP security protocol.  An authorized administrator can define the traffic that needs to be protected via IPsec by configuring access lists (permit, deny, log) and applying these access lists to interfaces using crypto map sets.

The TOE is also capable of rejecting any MACsec PDUs in a given session that contain a SCI that is different from the one that is used to establish that session. The SCI is derived from the MACsec peer’s MAC address and port to uniquely identify the originator of the MACsec PDU. Only EAPOL (PAE EtherType 88-8E) and MACsec frames (EtherType 88-E5) are permitted in the MACsec communication between peers and others are discarded.

Protection of TSF

The TOE protects against interference and tampering by untrusted subjects by implementing identification, authentication, and access controls to limit configuration to Authorized Administrators.  The TOE prevents reading of cryptographic keys and passwords.  Additionally, Cisco IOS-XE is not a general-purpose operating system and access to Cisco IOS-XE memory space is restricted to only Cisco IOS-XE functions.

The TOE is also able to detect replay of information received via secure channels (MACsec).  The detection applied to network packets that terminate at the TOE, such as trusted communications between the TOE and an IT entity (e.g., MACsec peer).  If replay is detected, the packets are discarded.

The TOE internally maintains the date and time.  This date and time are used as the timestamp that is applied to audit records generated by the TOE.  Administrators can update the TOE’s clock manually.  Finally, the TOE performs testing to verify correct operation of the router itself and that of the cryptographic module.

The TOE is able to verify any software updates prior to the software updates being installed on the TOE to avoid the installation of unauthorized software. Whenever a failure occurs within the TOE that results in the TOE ceasing operation, the TOE securely disables its interfaces to prevent the unintentional flow of any information to or from the TOE and reloads. 

TOE Access

The TOE can terminate inactive sessions after an Authorized Administrator configurable time-period.  Once a session has been terminated the TOE requires the user to re-authenticate to establish a new session.  Sessions can also be terminated if an Authorized Administrator enters the “exit” command. 

The TOE can also display a Security Administrator specified banner on the CLI management interface prior to allowing any administrative access to the TOE.

Trusted path/Channels

The TOE allows trusted paths to be established to itself from remote administrators over SSHv2 which has the ability to be encrypted further using IPsec and initiates outbound IPsec tunnels to transmit audit messages to remote syslog servers.  In addition, IPsec is used to secure the session between the TOE and the authentication servers.  The TOE can also establish trusted paths of peer-to-peer IPsec sessions.  The peer-to-peer IPsec sessions can be used for securing the communications between the TOE and authentication server/syslog server, as well as to protect communications with a CA.

Vendor Information