IOS IPS Signature description

I would like to "fine tune"  category ios_ips advanced  (or basic) on IOS IPS.
Clearly ISR G2 is not able to support as many active/enabled signatures as we'd like to so it would be nice to choose ones we actualy need.
Does anyone have table with signature descriptions so one can easily choose?
I found web site totaly inpractical... sorry cisco guys...
Please help !

If you are using IME, there is a way to export a list of signatures. I have done this with the IPS 4255 and it might be the same for IOS IPS.
Under Configuration, go to Policy -> Signatures -> All Signatures. There is a function to Export the list of signatures, in either HTML or CSV format.

Similar Messages

  • Correct procedure to update IOS IPS signatures on 2911 router

    What is the correct procedure to update the IOS IPS signatures on an 2911 router?
    I know how to download the signatures file (eg. IOS-S556-CLI.pkg) but what is the correct way to install the update?
    Thank you in advance!

    The IPS signature package comes with a list of pre-enabled signatures, hence Cisco does not recommend enabling a lot more other signatures, especially not every single signature as documented.
    The reason why is because the package might include retired/old signatures only for references, and not every single signature is required to protect your environment because you might not have the traffic for some signatures, you might not have some end hosts that are written with specific signatures, therefore, it becomes irrelevant if you enable it.
    Typically here is how customer would enable/disable signatures:
    - Use the default signature that is enabled by Cisco (the default should fit majority of the customers).
    - Monitor it for a couple of months
    - Disable those that you don't need, and enable others if you think you require it for specific.

  • IOS IPS Signature Updates

    Hi,
    Is it possible to update signatures for IOS IPS or do we need to update the IOS to get more signatures?
    Thanks and rgds
    Rajesh

    hi,
    if you have cisco sdm, then it would be easy to update your IOS IPS signatures. You may need to upgrade IOS of the router only when the ips signature requires you to do it.

  • Is there a way to automate IOS IPS signature updates without CSM?

    I have a growing number of 891 routers running IOS IDS/IPS. My Cisco vendor has stated repeatedly that CSM is the only way to manage signature updates to multiple routers, but I'm finding CSM to be incredibly tedious and slow. It also wants to manage a lot more than just the IPS policies and signatures which causes other problems.
    I have about 160 routers deployed now and that will grow to at least 600. I have CSM 3.3.1. I'm told 4.x would make it easier becasue it can be configured to ignore more of the non-IPS bits of the router configs, but the upgrade is a big chunk of money that wouldn't be in the budget until at least 2012.
    Is anybody doing this with an expect script or EEM applets or something else? It seems to me that I could manually upload an update to one router and push the resulting XML files to all the other routers a lot easier and faster than I could "discover" a bunch of routers in CSM (and rediscover them every time we make a CLI change), add the routers to a group, apply updates to a sig policy, lather, rinse, repeat..., not to mention troubleshooting the weird errors and completely wron "warnings" that CSM spews.
                   Thanks in advance!

    From IOS version 15.1(1)T, you can configure the IOS IPS to auto update from cisco.com which would help I believe.
    Here is the configuration guide for your reference:
    http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios/sec_data_plane/configuration/guide/sec_ips5_sig_fs_ue_ps10591_TSD_Products_Configuration_Guide_Chapter.html#wp1138659

  • IOS IPS Signature-File

    Hi Guys,
    We have recently purchased a Cisco ISR 2921,  and on its docs it is writen that this product has a License for IOS IPS Signatrue File,  but on the product Flash Memory there is no  IOS IPS Sig-File.   and while i try to download the sig-file from Cisco, it fails.
    Can any one tell me where is an alternate way to download the sig-file ?

    900 active signatures is quite much for a system that has no dedicated IPS-ressources.
    But you can controll which and how many signatures get enabled on your router:
    In the following example I first disable all signatures and enable the ones for web-servers. So just decide which signatures you need. But don't forget to monitor your router-ressources.
    gw#conf t
    Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
    gw(config)#ip ips signature-category
    gw(config-ips-category)#?
    IPS signature category configuration commands:
      category  Category keyword
      exit      Exit from Category Mode
      no        Negate or set default values of a command
    gw(config-ips-category)#category ?
      adware/spyware                Adware/Spyware (more sub-categories)
      all                           All Categories
      attack                        Attack (more sub-categories)
      configurations                Configurations (more sub-categories)
      ddos                          DDoS (more sub-categories)
      dos                           DoS (more sub-categories)
      email                         Email (more sub-categories)
      instant_messaging             Instant Messaging (more sub-categories)
      ios_ips                       IOS IPS (more sub-categories)
      l2/l3/l4_protocol             L2/L3/L4 Protocol (more sub-categories)
      network_services              Network Services (more sub-categories)
      os                            OS (more sub-categories)
      other_services                Other Services (more sub-categories)
      p2p                           P2P (more sub-categories)
      reconnaissance                Reconnaissance (more sub-categories)
      releases                      Releases (more sub-categories)
      specially_licensed_signature  Specially Licensed Signature (more sub-categories)
      telepresence                  TelePresence (more sub-categories)
      uc_protection                 UC Protection (more sub-categories)
      viruses/worms/trojans         Viruses/Worms/Trojans (more sub-categories)
      web_server                    Web Server (more sub-categories)
    gw(config-ips-category)#category all
    gw(config-ips-category-action)#retire true
    gw(config-ips-category-action)#exit              
    gw(config-ips-category)#category web_server
    gw(config-ips-category-action)#?
    Category Options for configuration:
      alert-severity   Alarm Severity Rating
      enabled          Enable Category Signatures
      event-action     Action
      exit             Exit from Category Actions Mode
      fidelity-rating  Signature Fidelity Rating
      no               Negate or set default values of a command
      retired          Retire Category Signatures
    gw(config-ips-category-action)#retired false
    gw(config-ips-category-action)#exit
    gw(config-ips-category)#exit
    Do you want to accept these changes? [confirm]
    gw(config)#
    gw(config)#exit
    gw#sh ip ips configuration | s IPS Signature Status
    IPS Signature Status
        Total Active Signatures: 131
        Total Inactive Signatures: 4370
    gw#
    I didn't follow the thread and answered your first post to have less line-breaks in this post.

  • IOS IPS Signatures for password guessing?

    I recently experienced a password-guessing attack. The inside Windows server's security was pretty well useless in stopping the attack (block, yes; stop, no), because the user ID kept changing, and Windows account lockout ignores source addresses. In this case, it was FTP, and I found an IPS signature for that, but it got me to thinking:
    There don't seem to be password-guessing signatures for RDP, HTTP, HTTPS, or SSL. Granted it may not be practical for HTTPS and SSL, but what about the other two? Should we consider rolling our own?

    You can configure custom signatures for IOS IPS using Security Monitor which is part of VMS. Below is a doc on how to do this:
    http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/cscowork/ps3990/products_user_guide_chapter09186a0080104f44.html#xtocid9
    Also try this link for Cisco Security Advisory
    http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/products_security_advisory09186a008055dbdd.shtml

  • IOS IPS/IDS on a BGP Peering Router?

    We have a pair of BP peerings between our network and our upstream service provider.  Since the peering points are geographically distributed and we run a "cold potato" routing policy on our network we cannot guarantee symmetric routing for traffic exchanged with our upstream service provider.
    Yesterday we followed the bouncing ball through the IPS/IDS setup documentation on a Cisco 2901 running 15.2(4)M3 and acting as a BGP speaking peering router at one of our peering points.  Immediately the router started throwing %IPS-6-SEND_TCP_PAK and %IPS-6-TIMEOUT_EVENT messages in the logs.  We also observed that some upstream service provider web sites became inaccessible to our users.  Turning off IPS/IDS on the 2901 restored connectivity for our users to those web sites.
    Three questions:
    Do the default Cisco IOS IPS/IDS rules assume that the router will see both sides of each TCP session?
    Does the Cisco IOS IPS/IDS TCP stream reassembly assume an attack and send TCP RST frames when it doesn't see both sides of a TCP session?
    Should we move the Cisco IPS/IDS functionality from the BGP-speaking routers at peering points to our customer sites, as the customer sites are the only places in our network guaranteed to see both sides of a given TCP session?  (We already perform NAT on the customer site routers for that reason.)

    Hello Bill,
    1) Yes, there are some normalizer functions on some IOS-IPS signatures that will behave like that with this scenarios (Asymetric routing not something good to any kind of security device)
    2) Yes, it will close the connections, I will definetly need to look for specific actions regarding that but you could just check the IOS IPS Signature statistics  on your router , see which is the one triggering the most and then see the action configured for it (and change it if required)
    3) If you cannot change that behavior then it would be safe to tell the router is not a good place to set an IPS or any other kind of firewall configuration unless you set with a weaker security policy (useless from a security standard point of view)
    Check my blog at http:laguiadelnetworking.com for further information.
    Cheers,
    Julio Carvajal Segura

  • IOS IPS basics

    I'm pretty new to managing IPS. My co is looking at deploying a large number of this and i'm suppose to manage it. i got a few questions
    1. are the available signature in default IOS IPS enough? i fired rentina to an old redhat version OS but i find that the results from IOS IPS is pretty generic.it detects non valid http traffic over ssl but not the vulnerablities used, and it does even detects nmap non tcp port scanning
    2.do you recommend using the default IOS IPS signatures ? if no, any recommendations & standards to follow ?
    3. Any guidance on custom signature development on IOS IPS ?
    4. Any method to manage large numbers of IOS IPS rules/singatures on a single console ? So i can push the signature from a single console to each and every routers. if not, it is possible to copy the signature folders over all the routers to get the same sets on signature on the routers?
    Appreciate any useful informations. Thanks in advance

    1. The Built-in signatures are pretty old and mostly worthless, you may want to disable them and use the latest Signature File available for the IOS-IPS. Your memeory will be the constraining factor as to how many signature you can have enabled.
    2. The signature defaults are a starting place. You will have to spend time doing the analysis of events to see if they're false positives (and many will be) and tune them down, or more likely disable them.
    3. Each signature engine has a fixed 64MB of memory. Turn on too many within that engine (including your custom sigs) and you won't get any. Watch the console log when enabling IPS to see if your build is failing. Some sigs eat more memory than others.
    4. If you have money to burn you can buy Cisco's CSM 3.1, or else keep your signature file(s) on an FTP/TFTP/SCP server and copy them to your routers as needed.

  • IOS IPS auto-update

    Hi,
    I have a couple of questions I hope people could answer:
    1) What recommendations/options are available for downloading signature files to a HTTP/TFTP server prior to having the IOS IPS device pull them from the server?  Is their a way to automate the HTTP/TFTP server downloading the signatures? (Cron job or such)
    2) Does the signature file name change each time a new signature file is released? If it does, would I have to go back to the router to update the URL string that is configured in the ip ips auto-update section? I would hate to have to update 200 CPE devices each time a new signature file is released.
    Hoping someone could answer these or help point me in the right direction to find the answer out.
    regards M

    I found this link with answers my one question.
    Cisco IOS Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)
    Tuning, Deploying and Updating Cisco IOS IPS Signature Sets For Multiple-Device Deployments
    http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps6537/ps6586/ps6634/white_paper_c11_549300.html

  • IOS IPS Sig Updates

    It seems like whenever there is an IDS sensor/appliance update for defending against the latest virus/worm but there is no update for IOS IPS signatures.
    Case in point - on June 3 there was an IDS update for W32/Bobax.worm.o S174. The IOS IPS zip file as of today is S169 from May 25, What gives?
    Also, why isn't their any release notes for the IOS IPS zip files to document what was added? That way we can read it to judge if we need to download the zip file or not.

    There are a couple of extra steps in producing the IOS IPS signature update. The IOS IPS solution is a subset of the full appliance solution and is further constrained by memory limitations inherent in the routers that it runs in. Because of this, once the signature development team puts together an appliance update, that update has to be reviewed to make sure that the appliance signatures won't crash the IOS implementation. Any issues found during the review have to be addressed before the IOS update can be posted. This extra review step is the cause for the delay.
    Regarding the release notes. The signatures usable by the IOS solution are a subset of the appliance update. You can look at the appliance update release notes to see what *might* be available. I say might because of the subset issues....
    SC

  • IOS IPS SIG Updates via IDSMDC

    When using IDSMSC to push out updates for Sensors and IOS IPS devices, the signature update process pushes the updates to the sensors during the udate process. However the IOS IPS devices pulls their signature definitions from the server itself.
    So my question is, do you need to "Generate" and "Deploy" to all IOS IPS devices to insure the devices are updated with the latest signature definitions after the update?
    SHM

    There are a couple of extra steps in producing the IOS IPS signature update. The IOS IPS solution is a subset of the full appliance solution and is further constrained by memory limitations inherent in the routers that it runs in. Because of this, once the signature development team puts together an appliance update, that update has to be reviewed to make sure that the appliance signatures won't crash the IOS implementation. Any issues found during the review have to be addressed before the IOS update can be posted. This extra review step is the cause for the delay.
    Regarding the release notes. The signatures usable by the IOS solution are a subset of the appliance update. You can look at the appliance update release notes to see what *might* be available. I say might because of the subset issues....
    SC

  • IOS IPS Important Notice - UPDATED

    IOS IPS customers running version 12.4T, 15.0M, or 15.1M - a critical software defect has been identified which may cause your router to reload and be stuck in a boot loop if IOS IPS signature version S639 or later is installed on the device. Recovery of impacted devices is possible only via a serial console connection through the device's ROMMON mode. For customers who are using IOS IPS signatures S638 or earlier, there is no issue. Customers wishing to upgrade the IOS IPS signature version to S639 or later must first be running a fixed version of IOS on the device prior to upgrading the IPS signatures.  Fixed versions of IOS include: 15.2(4)M, 15.1(3)T4, 15.2(3)T1, 15.1(4)M5, 12.4(24)T8 and later. Please refer to defect CSCtz27137 for additional details and steps to recover impacted devices.
    If you have upgraded your version of IOS to 15.2(4)M, 15.1(3)T4, 15.2(3)T1, 15.1(4)M5, 12.4(24)T8 or later you can obtain the most recent signature updates by  contacting the Cisco TAC

    What is the most recent version of IOS IPS sig file that TAC can supply?
    I'm running IOS 15.2(4)M1 and, per your suggestion above to contact TAC for the most recent signature update, I requested a later version of IPS sig than S636.
    I was simply referred back to the standard download page and IPS sig file S636.

  • IPS signature update

    i would like to get some idea for IOS IPS signature update.
    example currently the router fresh install using IOS-S416-CLI.pkg, IOS category ios_ips in advanced mode, with retired false.
    Just wonder what if next time download and loading with latest patch of the IOS-SXXX-CLI.pkg into the machine, what will effect on the current compiled signature?
    will it just loaded in incremental form?  (meaning is it the signature in latest patch will added as new enable signature), then what about the signature previously being modified and save one, any effect on it? (like re-write my previous save signature)
    with the new patch install, would it also effect on the router DRAM and flash size? (my router with 384 mb DRAM and 128mb flash)
    thanks

    Hi,
    When you compile a new signature package on a router that carries an existing signature database, the signature configuration in the new signature package will supersede the router's existing database's signature configuration. Thus, if you have made changes to the signature database on the your router, and you compile in an updated signature package that contradicts your changes, your changes will be overwritten!!, and will need to be re-created.
    You can avoid having to re-create your changes if you copy the "routername-sigdef-delta.xml" or "iosips-sigdef-delta.xmz" file to some other location on the router's local storage, and re-apply the original "routername-sigdef-delta.xml" or "iosips-sigdef-delta.xmz" to the updated signature database after you have compiled the updated signature package to the router's database.
    And don't forget, the basic signature category is appropriate for routers with less than 128 MB of flash memory, and the advanced signature category is appropriate for routers with more than 128 MB of flash memory.
    Hope this helps,
    Thank You,

  • IOS IPS auto-update without CSM

    Hi,
    We have 400 x 1811 router on which we need to update the IPS signature definition and custom signature.
    What is the best way to do it withou running CSM ?
    According to Cisco documentation, we need to add the auto-update command with an .XML extention. But when we load a .pkg in a router, the output is 4 different files. Unfortunalty we can auto-update only one file. Which one to I need to load on our TFTP server ?
    All the exemples of Cisco are using one single XML file.
    Does a single file with the signature defenition, category, default and type exist ?
    Since all our router have the same IPS config, I tought I could use one router at the central office with the configuration we want. And by someway asking the remote routers to auto-update their XML file on that router on which I would have activated a TFTP server.
    Anyone ever had to upgrade a lot of router IOS IPS signature?

    This can now be done in the 15.1T branch using cisco.com to download the update directly, see :
    http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios/15_1/release/notes/151TNEWF.html#wp1040750
    http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios/sec_data_plane/configuration/guide/sec_ips5_sig_fs_ue.html#wp1137583

  • 1841 IOS IPS online updates

    Hi,
    Can we configure 1841 IOS IPS to get automatic signature updates directly from cisco site. I know we can do it in other firewalls like sonicwall, fortigate, etc.
    Regards
    Siva K

    Hi  Siva,
    Yes you can do it from the Cisco Security Manager , or you can try
    Automatic Signature Update Guidelines
    When enabling automatic signature updates, it is recommended that you ensure
    the following configuration guidelines have been met:
    * The router's clock is set up with the proper relative time.
    *The frequency for Cisco IOS IPS to obtain updated signature information has
    been defined.
    *The URL in which to retrieve the Cisco IOS IPS signature configuration files
    has been specified.
    *Optionally, the username and password for which to access the files from the
    server have been specified.
    SUMMARY STEPS
    1. enable
    2. configure terminal
    3. ip ips auto-update
    4. occur-at min:hour date day
    5. username name password password
    6. url url
    7. exit
    8. show ip ips auto-update
    http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios/sec_data_plane/configuration/guide/sec_ips5_sig_fs_ue_ps6350_TSD_Products_Configuration_Guide_Chapter.html#wp1079125
    regards
    Yesua

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