Cisco IOS Security Configuration Guide: Securing the Data Plane, Release 12.4 - Cisco IOS IPS 5.x Signature Format Support and Usability Enhancements [Cisco IOS Software Releases 12.4 Mainline]

Table Of Contents

Cisco IOS IPS 5.x Signature Format Support and Usability Enhancements

Finding Feature Information

Contents

Prerequisites for Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

Restrictions for Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

Information About Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

Cisco IOS IPS Overview

Cisco IOS IPS Signature Scanning with Lightweight Signatures

Signature Categories

Router Configuration Files and Signature Event Action Processor (SEAP)

Benefits of Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

Signature Update Accessibility

How to Use Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

Retiring All Signatures and Selecting a Category of Signatures

What to Do Next

Configuring Cisco IOS IPS on Your Router

Examples

Loading a Signature File into Cisco IOS IPS

Prerequisites

Flexible Signatures: Ordered and Incremental

Enabling IPS Regex Table Chaining

Tuning Signature Parameters

Tuning Signatures per Signature ID

Tuning Signatures per Category

Enabling Signature Tunings Inheritance

Setting an IPS Memory Threshold

Setting the Target Value Rating

Enabling Automatic Signature Updates

Automatic Signature Update Guidelines

Monitoring Cisco IOS IPS Signatures via Syslog Messages or SDEE

SDEE Overview

Prerequisites

Troubleshooting Tips

Configuration Examples for Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

Cisco IOS IPS Configuration: Example

Enabling Automatic Signature Updates: Example

Configuring and Verifying SDEE on your Router: Example

Additional References

Related Documents

Standards

MIBs

RFCs

Technical Assistance

Feature Information for Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

Cisco IOS IPS 5.x Signature Format Support and Usability Enhancements

First Published: November 17, 2006

Last Updated: October 2, 2009

This feature introduces support for Cisco IOS Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) version 5.0, which is a version-based signature definition Extensible Markup Language (XML) format. In Cisco IOS Release 12.4(11)T, Cisco IOS IPS 4.x format signatures are replaced by the 5.x format signatures that are used by all other Cisco IPS devices.

Finding Feature Information

Your software release may not support all the features documented in this module. For the latest feature information and caveats, see the release notes for your platform and software release. To find information about the features documented in this module, and to see a list of the releases in which each feature is supported, see the "Feature Information for Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS" section.

Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco IOS XE software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to http://www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.

Contents

•Prerequisites for Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

•Restrictions for Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

•Information About Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

•How to Use Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

•Configuration Examples for Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

•Additional References

•Feature Information for Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

Prerequisites for Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

System and Image Requirements for Cisco IOS IPS 5.x

•Cisco IOS IPS signature categories are available in two formats—Basic and Advanced.

•Cisco IOS IPS system requirements depend on the type of deployment, the bandwidth requirements, and security requirements. The larger the number of signatures, the larger the amount of memory consumed.

•You must generate a RSA crypto key and load the public signature on your router for signature decryption.

This following cisco public key configuration can be cut and pasted directly into your router configuration:
crypto key pubkey-chain rsa
named-key realm-cisco.pub signature
key-string 
30820122 300D0609 2A864886 F70D0101 01050003 82010F00 3082010A 02820101  
00C19E93 A8AF124A D6CC7A24 5097A975 206BE3A2 06FBA13F 6F12CB5B 4E441F16  
17E630D5 C02AC252 912BE27F 37FDD9C8 11FC7AF7 DCDD81D9 43CDABC3 6007D128  
B199ABCB D34ED0F9 085FADC1 359C189E F30AF10A C0EFB624 7E0764BF 3E53053E  
5B2146A9 D7A5EDE3 0298AF03 DED7A5B8 9479039D 20F30663 9AC64B93 C0112A35  
FE3F0C87 89BCB7BB 994AE74C FA9E481D F65875D6 85EAF974 6D9CC8E3 F0B08B85  
50437722 FFBE85B9 5E4189FF CC189CB9 69C46F9C A84DFBA5 7A0AF99E AD768C36  
006CF498 079F88F8 A3B3FB1F 9FB7B3CB 5539E1D1 9693CCBB 551F78D2 892356AE  
2F56D826 8918EF3C 80CA4F4D 87BFCA3B BFF668E9 689782A5 CF31CB6E B4B094D3  
F3020301 0001 
quit
Note You can also access the public key configuration at the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/ios-v5sigup. Ensure that you have your Cisco userid, and password to access this URL.

•You must load one of the following images on your router to install Cisco IOS IPS 5.x: adventerprisek9, advsecurityk9, and advipservicesk9.

Note To check the current system version, use the show subsys name ips command.

IPS 4.x uses a version format of 2.xxx.xxx; IPS 5.x uses a version format of 3.xxx.xxx.

Upgrading from Cisco IOS IPS 4.x to Cisco IOS IPS 5.x Signatures

Cisco IOS IPS 5.x format signatures are not backward compatible with Cisco IOS IPS 4.x. You must reconfigure your Cisco IOS IPS features for use with the IPS 5.x signature format command-line interface (CLI) and features.

When reconfiguring Cisco IOS IPS on a router to convert to the 5.x signature format, you must have the following Cisco IOS IPS 4.x information:

•Cisco IOS IPS rule name (which was specified via the ip ips name ips-name command)

•Interfaces for which the Cisco IOS IPS rule has been applied

•User-created and customized signature definition files (SDFs)

To gather this information, issue the show ip ips configuration command, which displays a copy of the existing output.
Router# show ip ips configuration 
Configured SDF Locations:
disk2:my-signatures.sdf
Builtin signatures are enabled but not loaded
Last successful SDF load time: 05:31:54 MST Sep 20 2003
IPS fail closed is disabled
Fastpath ips is enabled
Quick run mode is enabled
Event notification through syslog is enabled
Event notification through SDEE is enabled
Total Active Signatures: 13
Total Inactive Signatures: 0
Signature 50000:0 disable
Signature 50000:1 disable
Signature 50000:2 disable
IPS Rule Configuration
IPS name MYIPS
Interface Configuration
Interface GigabitEthernet0/1
Inbound IPS rule is MYIPS
Outgoing IPS rule is not set
Note Detailed or customized changes to specific signatures may be lost. IPS 4.x SDF files will not load under the Cisco IOS IPS 5.x version.

Restrictions for Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

Warning Do not enable all IPS signatures at once. The router may not be able to compile all of the signatures, resulting in high CPU and memory usage, degraded performance, or a system reload.

Backward Compatibility

Cisco IOS IPS 5.x format signatures are not backward compatible with Cisco IOS IPS 4.x SDFs.

Cisco 870 Series Platform Support

The 870 series platform with Cisco IOS IPS in Cisco IOS Release 12.4(11)T may experience lower performance relative to previous releases (CSCsg57228). The Cisco IOS IPS performance on the 870 series platform will be enhanced in a later 12.4(11)T image rebuild.

On the 870 series platform, Cisco IOS IPS is supported only on the adv-ipservices and the adv-enterprise images. Cisco IOS IPS is the same on both images.

Information About Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

Before using Cisco IOS 5.x format signatures with Cisco IOS IPS, you should understand the following concepts:

•Cisco IOS IPS Overview

•Cisco IOS IPS Signature Scanning with Lightweight Signatures

•Signature Categories

•Benefits of Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

•Signature Update Accessibility

Cisco IOS IPS Overview

The Cisco IOS IPS acts as an in-line intrusion prevention sensor, watching packets and sessions as they flow through the router and scanning each packet to match any of the Cisco IOS IPS signatures. When it detects suspicious activity, it responds before network security can be compromised and logs the event through Cisco IOS syslog messages or Security Device Event Exchange (SDEE). The network administrator can configure Cisco IOS IPS to choose the appropriate response to various threats. The Signature Event Action Processor (SEAP) can dynamically control actions that are to be taken by a signature event on the basis of parameters such as fidelity, severity, or target value rating. These parameters have default values but can also be configured via CLI. When packets in a session match a signature, Cisco IOS IPS can take any of the following actions, as appropriate:

•Send an alarm to a syslog server or a centralized management interface

•Drop the packet

•Reset the connection

•Deny traffic from the source IP address of the attacker for a specified amount of time

•Deny traffic on the connection for which the signature was seen for a specified amount of time

Cisco developed its Cisco IOS software-based intrusion-prevention capabilities and Cisco IOS Firewall with flexibility in mind, so that individual signatures could be disabled in case of false positives. Generally, it is preferable to enable both the firewall and Cisco IOS IPS to support network security policies. However, each of these features may be enabled independently and on different router interfaces.

Cisco IOS IPS Signature Scanning with Lightweight Signatures

The addition of Cisco IOS IPS signature scanning with lightweight signatures in Cisco IOS Release 15.0(1)M is an enhancement to Cisco IOS IPS that allows loading of larger signatures sets, without consuming significant additional memory or reducing the memory consumed by an existing signature set, by loading equivalent lighter-weight signatures. These signatures are referred to as lightweight signatures.

For the signatures made obsolete by new lightweight signatures from new signature scanning engines, Cisco IOS provides the ip ips inherit-obsolete-tunings command to apply common parameters the user may have changed (customized) in the old signature file (delta.xml), to the equivalent new signature file. For more information, see the "Enabling Signature Tunings Inheritance" section.

Signature Categories

Cisco IPS appliances and Cisco IOS IPS with Cisco 5.x format signatures operate with signature categories. All signatures are pregrouped into categories; the categories are hierarchical. An individual signature can belong to more than one category. Top-level categories help to define general types of signatures. Subcategories exist beneath each top-level signature category. (For a list of supported top-level categories, use your router CLI help (?).)

Router Configuration Files and Signature Event Action Processor (SEAP)

As of Cisco IOS Release 12.4(11)T, SDFs are no longer used by Cisco IOS IPS. Instead, routers access signature definition information via a directory that contains three configuration files—the default configuration, the delta configuration, and the SEAP configuration. Cisco IOS accesses this directory via the ip ips config location command.

Note You must issue the ip ips config location command; otherwise, the configuration files are not saved to any location.

SEAP is the control unit responsible for coordinating the data flow of a signature event. It allows for advanced filtering and signature overrides on the basis of the Event Risk Rating (ERR) feedback. ERR is used to control the level in which a user chooses to take actions in an effort to minimize false positives.

Signatures once stored in NVRAM, will now be stored in the delta configuration file; thus, support for access control lists (ACLs) is no longer necessary.

Additional Risk Rating Algorithms

The ERR characterizes the risk of an attack and allows users to make decisions on the basis of the risk control signature event actions. To help further control signature event actions, the following additional rating categories are now supported:

•Attack Severity Rating (ASR)—Determines the severity of an attack. The attack-severity rating values are hard-coded in Cisco IOS IPS as follows: high, medium, low, and informational. The ASR can be changed via the alert-rating command. To change the ASF, see the section "Tuning Signature Parameters."

•Signature Fidelity Rating (SFR)—Determines the confidence level of detecting a true positive. The SFR can be changed via the fidelity-rating command. To change the SFR, see the section "Tuning Signature Parameters."

•Target Value Rating (TVR)—Allows users to develop security policies that can be more strict for some resources than others. The security policy is applied to a table of hosts that are protected by Cisco IOS IPS. A host can be a single IP address or a range of IP addresses with an associated target value rating. To configure the TVR, see the task "Setting the Target Value Rating."

Benefits of Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

Automatic Signature Update

With Cisco IOS IPS 5.0, customers can now configure automatic signature updates from local servers.

Network administrators can either preserve the user's current configuration of signature actions or override the user's current configuration of signature actions with the current IPS configuration.

Auto update can also update the CLI signature package.

If this feature is enabled, signatures are delivered in either a Basic signature file or an Advanced signature file.

Signature Category-Based Configuration

Top-level signature categories help to classify signatures for easy grouping and tuning; that is, group-wide parameters, such as signature event action, can be applied to a group via CLI, so the user does not have to modify each individual signature.

Encrypted Signature Support

Cisco IOS IPS introduces support for encrypted (NDA) signatures.

Signature Update Accessibility

To help detect the latest vulnerabilities, Cisco provides the following signature update options:

•Download the latest signature file package from Cisco.com at the following URL:

http://tools.cisco.com/support/downloads/go/Model.x?mdfid=281442967&mdfLevel=Software%20Family&treeName=Security&modelName=Cisco%20IOS%20Intrusion%20Prevention%20System%20Feature%20Software&treeMdfId=268438162. Ensure that you have your Cisco userid, and password to access this URL.

•Configure automatic signature updates via the ip ips autoupdate command. Updates can be configured to run on the basis of a preset time. For more information, see the task "Enabling Automatic Signature Updates."

•Issue the copy url idconf command to instruct the router where to load a signature file. (The file can be saved in a location specified via the ip ips config location command.)

How to Use Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

This section contains the following procedures:

•Retiring All Signatures and Selecting a Category of Signatures (Optional)

•Configuring Cisco IOS IPS on Your Router (Required)

•Loading a Signature File into Cisco IOS IPS (Required)

•Enabling IPS Regex Table Chaining (Optional)

•Tuning Signature Parameters (Optional)

•Enabling Signature Tunings Inheritance (Optional)

•Setting an IPS Memory Threshold (Optional)

•Setting the Target Value Rating (Optional)

•Enabling Automatic Signature Updates (Optional)

•Monitoring Cisco IOS IPS Signatures via Syslog Messages or SDEE (Optional)

Retiring All Signatures and Selecting a Category of Signatures

Router memory and resource constraints prevent a router from loading all Cisco IOS IPS signatures. Thus, it is recommended that you load only a selected set of signatures that are defined by the categories. Because the categories are applied in a "top-down" order, you should first retire all signatures, followed by "unretiring" specific categories. Retiring signatures enables the router to load information for all signatures, but the router will not build the parallel scanning data structure.

Retired signatures are not scanned by Cisco IOS IPS, so they will not fire alarms. If a signature is irrelevant to your network or if you want to save router memory, you should retire signatures, as appropriate.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable

2. configure terminal

3. ip ips signature-category

4. category category [subcategory]

5. retired {true | false}

6. exit

7. category category [subcategory]

8. retired {true | false}

9. exit

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action

Purpose

Step 1

enable
Example:

Router> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

•Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal
Example:

Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

ip ips signature-category
Example:

Router(config)# ip ips signature-category

Enters enters IPS category configuration mode.

Step 4

category category [subcategory]
Example:

Router(config-ips-category)# category all

Specifies that all categories (and all signatures) will be retired in the following step and enters IPS category action configuration mode.

Step 5

retired {true | false}
Example:

Router(config-ips-category-action)# retired true

Specifies that the router should retire all categories (and all signatures).

•true—Retires all signatures within a given category.

•false —"Unretires" all signatures within a given category.

Step 6

exit
Example:

Router(config-ips-category-action)# exit

Exits IPS category action configuration mode.

Step 7

category category [subcategory]
Example:

Router(config-ips-category)# category ios_ips basic

Specifies the basic category (and a set of signatures) that are to be "unretired" in the following step.

Step 8

retired {true | false}
Example:

Router(config-ips-category-action)# retired false

Specifies that all signatures within the basic category are to be unretired; that is, signatures will be enabled for the basic category.

Step 9

exit
Example:

Router(config-ips-category-action)# exit

Exits IPS category action and IPS category configuration modes.

What to Do Next

After you have configured the basic category, you should enable Cisco IOS IPS on your router as shown in the section "Configuring Cisco IOS IPS on Your Router."

You can customize (or tune) the entire category or individual signatures within a category to addresses the needs of your network. For information on tuning signatures, see the section "Tuning Signature Parameters."

Configuring Cisco IOS IPS on Your Router

After you have set up a "load definition" for the signature package file to be copied to the idconf, you must configure an IPS rule name. Use this task to configure an IPS rule name and start the IPS configuration.

You can also use this task to configure a Cisco IOS IPS signature location, which tells Cisco IOS IPS where to save signature information.

The configuration location is used to restore the IPS configuration in case the router reboots or IPS is disabled or reenabled. Files, such as signature definition, signature-type definitions, and signature category information, are written in XML format, compressed, and saved to the specified IPS signature location.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable

2. mkdir flash:/ips5

3. configure terminal

4. ip ips name ips-name

5. ip ips config location url

6. interface type name

7. ip ips ips-name {in | out}

8. exit

9. show ip ips configuration

10. show ip ips signature count

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action

Purpose

Step 1

enable
Example:

Router> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

•Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

mkdir flash:/ips5
Example:

Router# mkdir flash:/ips5

Create a directory for which Cisco IOS IPS will save signature information.

Note The directory location will be specified via the ip ips config location command.

Step 3

configure terminal
Example:

Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 4

ip ips name ips-name
Example:

Router(config)# ip ips name myips

Creates an IPS rule.

Step 5

ip ips config location url
Example:

Router(config)# ip ips config location flash:/ips5

Specifies the location where Cisco IOS IPS will save the signature information, and, if necessary, access the signature configuration information.

Note You must specify a location; otherwise, the signature package will not be saved.

Note If the specified location is a URL, such as an FTP server, the user must have writer privileges.

Step 6

interface type name
Example:

Router(config)# interface gigbitEthernet 0/0

Identifies the interface in which to enable Cisco IOS IPS and enters interface configuration mode.

Step 7

ip ips ips-name {in | out}
Example:

Router(config-if)# ip ips MYIPS in

Applies an IPS rule at an interface and automatically loads the signatures and builds the signature engines.

Note Whenever signatures are replaced or merged, the router prompt is suspended while the signature engines for the newly added or merged signatures are being built. The router prompt will be available again after the engines are built.

Depending on your platform and how many signatures are being loaded, building the engine can take up to several minutes. It is recommended that you enable logging messages to monitor the engine building status.

Step 8

exit
Example:

Router(config-if)# exit
Router(config)# exit

Exits interface and global configuration modes.

Step 9

show ip ips configuration
Example:

Router# show ip ips configuration

(Optional) Verifies that Cisco IOS IPS is properly configured.

Step 10

show ip ips signature count
Example:

Router# show ip ips signature

(Optional) Verifies the number of signatures that are loaded into each signature micro engine (SME).

Examples

The following sample output displays the number of signatures that have been loaded into each SME:
Router# show ip ips signature count
Cisco SDF release version S247.0
Trend SDF release version V1.2
Signature Micro-Engine: multi-string
Total Signatures: 7
Enabled: 7 
Retired: 2 
Compiled: 5 
Signature Micro-Engine: service-http
Total Signatures: 541
Enabled: 284 
Retired: 336 
Compiled: 205 
Signature Micro-Engine: string-tcp
Total Signatures: 487
Enabled: 332 
Retired: 352 
Compiled: 135 
Signature Micro-Engine: string-udp
Total Signatures: 50
Enabled: 3 
Retired: 23 
Compiled: 27 
Signature Micro-Engine: state
Total Signatures: 26
Enabled: 15 
Retired: 23 
Compiled: 3 
Signature Micro-Engine: atomic-ip
Total Signatures: 140
Enabled: 87 
Retired: 93 
Compiled: 46 
Inactive - invalid params: 1 
Signature Micro-Engine: string-icmp
Total Signatures: 2
Enabled: 0 
Retired: 1 
Compiled: 1 
Signature Micro-Engine: service-ftp
Total Signatures: 3
Enabled: 3 
Compiled: 3 
Signature Micro-Engine: service-rpc (INACTIVE)
Signature Micro-Engine: service-dns
Total Signatures: 1
Enabled: 1 
Retired: 1 
Signature Micro-Engine: normalizer
Total Signatures: 9
Enabled: 9 
Compiled: 9 
Total Signatures: 1266
Total Enabled Signatures: 741
Total Retired Signatures: 831
Total Compiled Signatures: 434
Total Signatures with invalid parameters: 1
Loading a Signature File into Cisco IOS IPS

Use this task to load a signature package into Cisco IOS IPS. You may wish to load a new signature package into Cisco IOS IPS if a signature (or signatures) with the current signature package is not providing your network with adequate protection from security threats.

Prerequisites

You must enable Cisco IOS IPS (as shown in the task "Configuring Cisco IOS IPS on Your Router") before loading a new signature package.

Flexible Signatures: Ordered and Incremental

Each signature is complied incrementally into the scanning tables at the same time. Thus, Cisco IOS IPS can deactivate signatures that fail to compile. (Prior to Cisco IOS Release 12.4(11)T, Cisco IOS IPS deactivated the entire signature microengine (SME) if a single signature failed to compile.)

Signatures are loaded into the scanning table on the basis of importance. Parameters such as signature severity, signature fidelity rating, and time lapsed since signatures were last released allow Cisco IOS IPS to compile the most important signatures first, followed by less important signatures, thereby, creating a load order and prioritizing which signatures are loaded first.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable

2. configure terminal

3. ip ips config location url

4. interface type name

5. ip ips ips-name {in | out}

6. exit

7. copy url idconf

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action

Purpose

Step 1

enable
Example:

Router> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

•Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal
Example:

Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

ip ips config location url
Example:

Router(config)# ip ips config location flash:/ips5

Specifies the location where Cisco IOS IPS will save the signature information, and, if necessary, access the signature configuration information.

Step 4

interface type name
Example:

Router(config)# interface gigbitEthernet 0/0

Identifies the interface in which to enable Cisco IOS IPS.

Step 5

ip ips ips-name {in | out}
Example:

Router(config-if)# ip ips MYIPS in

Applies an IPS rule at an interface and automatically loads the signatures and builds the signature engines.

Step 6

exit
Example:

Router(config-if)# exit
Router(config)# exit

Exits interface and global configuration modes.

Step 7

copy url idconf
Example:

Router# copy tftp://tftp_server/sig.xml idconf

Loads a signature package into Cisco IOS IPS.

After the package is loaded, all signature information is saved to the location specified via the ip ips config location command.

Enabling IPS Regex Table Chaining

Regex Table Chaining is an enhancement to Cisco IOS IPS in Cisco IOS Release 15.0(1)M, that allows the IPS to chain multiple regular (regex) tables together when signatures are being loaded. This functionality is enabled by the ip ips memory regex chaining command. Enabling regex table chaining allows three regex tables to be chained. There will be a slight performance degradation in IPS scanning time due to the scanning of multiple tables.

When a user tries to load a specific set of signatures that will not fit using a single table, compilation errors will result.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable

2. configure terminal

3. ip ips memory regex chaining

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action

Purpose

Step 1

enable
Example:

Router> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

•Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal
Example:

Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

ip ips memory regex chaining
Example:

Router(config)# ip ips memory regex chaining

Enables IPS regex table chaining when signatures are being loaded.

Tuning Signature Parameters

You can tune signature parameters on the basis of a signature ID (for an individual signature), or you can tune signature parameters on the basis of a category (that is, all signatures that are within a specified category). To tune signature parameters, use the following tasks, as appropriate:

•Tuning Signatures per Signature ID

•Tuning Signatures per Category

Note Some changes to the signature definitions are not shown in the run time config because the changes are recorded in the sigdef-delta.xml file, which can be located via the ip ips config location command.

Tuning Signatures per Signature ID

Use this task to change default signature parameters for a specified signature ID.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable

2. configure terminal

3. ip ips signature-definition

4. signature signature-id [subsignature-id]

5. engine

6. event-action action

7. exit

8. alert-severity {high | medium | low | informational}

9. fidelity-rating rating

10. status

11. enabled {true | false}

12. exit

13. show ip ips signature

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action

Purpose

Step 1

enable
Example:

Router> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

•Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal
Example:

Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

ip ips signature-definition
Example:

Router(config)# ip ips signature-definition

Enters signature-definition-signature configuration mode.

Step 4

signature signature-id [subsignature-id]
Example:

Router(config-sigdef-sig)# signature 9000:0

Specifies a signature for which the CLI user tunings will be changed and enters signature-definition-action configuration mode.

Step 5

engine
Example:

Router(config-sigdef-action)# engine

(Optional) Enters signature-definition-action-engine configuration mode, which allows you to change router actions for a specified signature.

Step 6

event-action action
Example:

Router(config-sigdef-action-engine)#
event-action deny-attacker-inline

Changes router actions for a specified signature.

The action argument can be any of the following options:

•deny-attacker-inline

•deny-connection-inline

•deny-packet-inline

•produce-alert

•reset-tcp-connection

Note Signature event actions must be entered on a single line.

Note You must enter the engine command before issuing this command.

Step 7

exit
Example:

Router(config-sigdef-action-engine)# exit

Exits the signature-definition-action-engine configuration mode.

This step is required only if the engine and event-action commands are issued.

Step 8

alert-severity {high | medium | low | informational}
Example:

Router(config-sigdef-action)# alert-severity medium

(Optional) Changes the alert severity rating for a given signature.

Step 9

fidelity-rating rating
Example:

Router(config-sigdef-action)# fidelity-rating

(Optional) Changes the signature fidelity rating for a given signature.

Step 10

status
Example:

Router(config-sidef-action)# status

(Optional) Enters the signature-definition-status configuration mode, which allows you to change the enabled status of a signature.

Step 11

enabled {true | false}
Example:

Router(config-sigdef-status)# enabled true

(Optional) Changes the enabled status of a given signature or signature category.

Step 12

exit
Example:

Router(config-sigdef-sta)# exit

Returns to EXEC mode, which allows you to later verify the configuration.

Step 13

show ip ips signature
Example:

Router# show ip ips signature

(Optional) Verifies the signature changes that have been made.

Tuning Signatures per Category

Use this task to change default signature parameters for a category of signatures. Categories such as operating systems; Layer 2, Layer 3, or Layer 4 protocols; or service-based categories can be configured to provide wider changes to a group of signatures.

Tip Category configuration information is processed in the order that it is entered. Thus, it is recommended that the process of retiring all signatures (as shown in the task "Retiring All Signatures and Selecting a Category of Signatures") occur before all other category tuning.

If a category is configured more than once, the parameters entered in the second configuration will be added to or will replace the previous configuration.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable

2. configure terminal

3. ip ips signature-category

4. category category [subcategory]

5. event-action action

6. alert-severity {high | medium | low | informational}

7. fidelity-rating rating

8. enabled {true | false}

9. retired {true | false}

10. exit

11. show ip ips signature

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action

Purpose

Step 1

enable
Example:

Router> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

•Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal
Example:

Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

ip ips signature-category
Example:

Router(config)# ip ips signature-category

Enters IPS category (config-ips-category) configuration mode.

Step 4

category category [subcategory]
Example:

Router(config-ips-category)# category attack adware/spyware

Specifies a category that is to be used for multiple signature actions or conditions and enters IPS category action configuration mode.

Step 5

event-action action
Example:

Router(config-ips-category-action)# event-action produce-alert

Changes router actions for a specified signature category.

The action argument can be any of the following options:

•deny-attacker-inline

•deny-connection-inline

•deny-packet-inline

•produce-alert

•reset-tcp-connection

Note Event actions associated with a category can be entered separately or on a single line.

Step 6

alert-severity {high | medium | low | informational}
Example:

Router(config-ips-category-action)#
alert-severity medium

(Optional) Changes the alert severity rating for a given signature category.

Step 7

fidelity-rating rating
Example:

Router(config-ips-category-action)#
fidelity-rating

(Optional) Changes the signature fidelity rating for a signature given category.

Step 8

enabled {true | false}
Example:

Router(config-ips-category-action)# enabled true

(Optional) Changes the enabled status of a given signature or signature category.

Step 9

retired {true | false}
Example:

Router(config-ips-category-action)# retired true

(Optional) Specifies whether or not the router should retire a signature category.

Step 10

exit
Example:

Router(config-ips-category-action)# exit
Router(config-ips-category)# exit
Router(config)# exit

Returns to EXEC mode, which allows you to later verify the configuration.

Step 11

show ip ips signature
Example:

Router# show ip ips signature

(Optional) Verifies the signature category changes that have been made.

Enabling Signature Tunings Inheritance

When new signatures are replacing older signatures, Cisco IOS IPS provides the ip ips inherit-obsolete-tunings command to enable new signatures to obsolete older signatures and inherit the event-action and enabled parameters of the obsolete tuning values, without the need to manually tune the new signatures. This functionality is called signature tuning inheritance. All other parameter changes including the "Retire" parameter will be ignored.

After you enter the command, the screen displays a warning message asking you to clarify the intended usage and then asks whether you accept the configuration or not. By default, old signatures are not inherited by new signatures.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable

2. configure terminal

3. ip ips inherit-obsolete-tunings

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action

Purpose

Step 1

enable
Example:

Router> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

•Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal
Example:

Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

ip ips inherit-obsolete-tunings
Example:

Router(config)#ip ips inherit-obsolete-tunings

Enables the inheritance of the tunings of the enabled and event-action parameters from obsolete signatures to new signatures in an IPS,

Setting an IPS Memory Threshold

When a router is powered up, 90 percent of the available memory is allocated to IPS-related activities. The remaining 10 percent is referred to as the IPS Memory Threshold—the amount of free memory unavailable to the IPS. Cisco IOS IPS allows the IPS memory threshold to be set to a different value using the ip ips memory threshold command.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable

2. configure terminal

3. ip ips memory threshold megabytes

DETAILED STEPS
Command or Action

Purpose

Step 1

enable
Example:

Router> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

•Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal
Example:

Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.
Step 3
ip ips memory threshold megabytes
Example:

Router(config)# ip ips memory threshold 50
Specifies an IPS memory threshold, or the amount of free memory unavailable to the IPS.

•The units are in megabytes (MB).

•This example specifies that Cisco IOS IPS cannot consume more memory if the remaining (free) memory becomes less than 50 MB.
Setting the Target Value Rating

Use this task to set the target value rating, which allows users to develop security policies that can be more strict for some resources than others. The security policy is applied to a table of hosts that are protected by Cisco IOS IPS. A host can be a single IP address or a range of IP addresses with an associated target value rating.

Note Changes to the target value rating is not shown in the run time config because the changes are recorded in the seap-delta.xml file, which can be located via the ip ips config location command.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable

2. configure terminal

3. ip ips event-action-rules

4. target-value {mission-critical | high | medium | low} target-address ip-address [/nn | to ip-address]

5. exit

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action

Purpose

Step 1

enable
Example:

Router> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

•Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal
Example:

Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

ip ips event-action-rules
Example:

Router(config)# ip ips event-action-rules

Enters the config-rule configuration mode, which allows users to change the target value rating.

Step 4

target-value {mission-critical | high | medium | low} target-address ip-address [/nn | to ip-address]
Example:

Router(config-rul)# target-value medium target-address 10.12.100.53

Sets the target value rating for a host.

Step 5

exit
Example:

Router(config-rul)# exit

Exits config-rule configuration mode.

Enabling Automatic Signature Updates

Automatic signature updates allow users to override the existing configuration and automatically keep signatures up to date on the basis of a preset time, which can be configured to a preferred setting.

Time can be updated via the hardware clock or the configurable software clock (which ever option is available on your system). Although Network Time Protocol (NTP) is typically used for automated time synchronization, Cisco IOS IPS updates use the local clock resources as a reference for update intervals. Thus, NTP should be configured to update the local time server of the router, as appropriate.

Use this task to enable Cisco IOS IPS to automatically update the signature file on the system.

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

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action

Purpose

Step 1

enable
Example:

Router> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

•Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal
Example:

Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

ip ips auto-update
Example:

Router(config)# ip ips auto-update

Enables automatic signature updates for Cisco IOS IPS and enters IPS auto-update configuration mode.

Step 4

occur-at min:hour date day
Example:

Router(config-ips-auto-update)# occur-at 0 0-23 1-31 1-5

(Optional) Defines a preset time for which the Cisco IOS IPS signature files are automatically updated.

Step 5

username name password password
Example:

Router(config-ips-auto-update)# username myips password secret

(Optional) Defines a username and password for the automatic signature update function.

Step 6

url url
Example:

Router(config-ips-auto-update)# url tftp://192.168.0.2/username1/ips-auto-update/IO S_reqSeq-dw.xml

(Optional) URL in which the router retrieves the Cisco IOS IPS signature configuration files.

Step 7

exit
Example:

Router(config-ips-auto-update)# exit
Router(config)# exit

Exits IPS auto-update and global configuration modes.

Step 8

show ip ips auto-update
Example:

Router# show ip ips auto-update

Verifies the automatic signature update configuration.

Monitoring Cisco IOS IPS Signatures via Syslog Messages or SDEE

Cisco IOS IPS provides two methods to report IPS intrusion alerts—Cisco IOS logging (syslog) and SDEE. Perform this task to enable SDEE to report IPS intrusion alerts.

To configure syslog messages, see the chapter "Troubleshooting and Fault Management" in the Cisco IOS Network Management Configuration Guide, Release 12.4.

SDEE Overview

SDEE is an application-level communication protocol that is used to exchange IPS messages between IPS clients and IPS servers. SDEE is always running, but it does not receive and process events from IPS unless SDEE notification is enabled. If SDEE notification is not enabled and a client sends a request, SDEE will respond with a fault response message, indicating that notification is not enabled.

Storing SDEE Events in the Buffer

When SDEE notification is enabled (via the ip ips notify sdee command), 200 events can automatically be stored in the buffer. When SDEE notification is disabled, all stored events are lost. A new buffer is allocated when the notifications are reenabled.

When specifying the size of an events buffer, note the following functionality:

•It is circular. When the end of the buffer is reached, the buffer will start overwriting the earliest stored events. (If overwritten events have not yet been reported, you will receive a buffer overflow notice.)

•If a new, smaller buffer is requested, all events that are stored in the previous buffer will be lost.

•If a new, larger buffer is requested, all existing events will be saved.

Prerequisites

To use SDEE, the HTTP server must be enabled (via the ip http server command). If the HTTP server is not enabled, the router cannot respond to the SDEE clients because it cannot not "see" the requests.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. enable

2. configure terminal

3. ip ips notify sdee

4. ip sdee events events

5. ip sdee subscriptions subscriptions

6. ip sdee messages messages

7. ip sdee alerts alerts

8. exit

9. show ip sdee {[alerts] [all] [errors] [events] [configuration] [status] [subscriptions]}

DETAILED STEPS

Command or Action

Purpose

Step 1

enable
Example:

Router> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

•Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal
Example:

Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

ip ips notify sdee
Example:

Router(config)# ip ips notify sdee

Enables SDEE event notification on a router.

Step 4

ip sdee events events
Example:

Router(config)# ip sdee events 500

(Optional) Sets the maximum number of SDEE events that can be stored in the event buffer.

•Maximum value: 1000 events.

Note By default, 200 events can be stored in the buffer when SDEE is enabled. When SDEE is disabled, all stored events are lost; a new buffer is allocated when the notifications are reenabled.

Step 5

ip sdee subscriptions subscriptions
Example:

Router(config)# ip sdee subscriptions 1

(Optional) Sets the maximum number of SDEE subscriptions that can be open simultaneously.

•Valid value ranges from 1 to 3.

Step 6

ip sdee messages messages
Example:

Router(config)# ip sdee messages 500

(Optional) Sets the maximum number of SDEE messages that can be stored in the buffer at one time.

Step 7

ip sdee alerts alerts
Example:

Router(config)# ip sdee alerts 2000

(Optional) Sets the maximum number of SDEE alerts that can be stored in the buffer at one time.

Step 8

exit
Example:

Router(config)# exit

Exits global configuration mode.

Step 9

show ip sdee {[alerts] [all] [errors] [events] [configuration] [status] [subscriptions]}
Example:

Router# show ip sdee configuration

(Optional) Verifies SDEE configuration information and notification functionality.

Troubleshooting Tips

To print out new SDEE alerts on the router console, issue the debug ip sdee command.

To clear the event buffer or SDEE subscriptions from the router (which helps with error recovery), issue the clear ip sdee command.

Configuration Examples for Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

This section contains the following configuration example:

•Cisco IOS IPS Configuration: Example

•Enabling Automatic Signature Updates: Example

•Configuring and Verifying SDEE on your Router: Example

Cisco IOS IPS Configuration: Example

The following example shows how to enable and verify Cisco IOS IPS on your router:
Router# mkdir flash:/ips5
Create directory filename [ips5]? 
Created dir flash:/ips5
Router#
Router#
Router#
Router# configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
Router(config)# ip ips name MYIPS
Router(config)# ip ips config location flash:/ips5
Router(config)# ip ips signature-category
Router(config-ips-category)# category all
Router(config-ips-category-action)# retired true
Router(config-ips-category-action)# exit
Router(config-ips-category)# category ios_ips advanced
Router(config-ips-category-action)# retired false
Router(config-ips-category-action)# exit 
Router(config-ips-category)# exit
Do you want to accept these changes? [confirm]
Router(config)# d
*Nov 14 2006 17:16:42 MST: Applying Category configuration to signatures .. 
Router(config)#
Router(config)# do show ip interface brief
Interface                IP-Address     OK?    Method  Status                 Protocol
GigabitEthernet0/0       10.0.20.120    YES    NVRAM   up                     up 
GigabitEthernet0/1       10.12.100.120  YES    NVRAM   administratively down  down 
NVI0                     unassigned     NO     unset   up                     up 
Router(config)#
Router(config)# interface gigabits 0/0
Router(config-if)# ip ips MYIPS in
Router(config-if)#
*Nov 14 2006 17:17:07 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_BUILDS_STARTED: 17:17:07 MST Nov 14 2006
*Nov 14 2006 17:17:07 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_BUILDING: atomic-ip - 3 signatures - 1 of 13 
engines
*Nov 14 2006 17:17:07 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_READY: atomic-ip - build time 0 ms - packets for 
this engine will be scanned
*Nov 14 2006 17:17:07 MST: %IPS-6-ALL_ENGINE_BUILDS_COMPLETE: elapsed time 0 ms
Router(config-if)#
Router(config-if)# ip ips MYIPS out
Router(config-if)#
Router(config-if)#
Router(config-if)#^Z
Router#
*Nov 14 2006 17:17:23 MST: %SYS-5-CONFIG_I: Configured from console by cisco on console
Router# wr
Building configuration...
[OK]
Router#
Router# show ip ips signature count
Cisco SDF release version S0.0
Signature Micro-Engine: multi-string (INACTIVE)
Signature Micro-Engine: service-http (INACTIVE)
Signature Micro-Engine: string-tcp (INACTIVE)
Signature Micro-Engine: string-udp (INACTIVE)
Signature Micro-Engine: state (INACTIVE)
Signature Micro-Engine: atomic-ip
     Total Signatures: 3
       Enabled: 0 
       Compiled: 3 
Signature Micro-Engine: string-icmp (INACTIVE)
Signature Micro-Engine: service-ftp (INACTIVE)
Signature Micro-Engine: service-rpc (INACTIVE)
Signature Micro-Engine: service-dns (INACTIVE)
Signature Micro-Engine: normalizer (INACTIVE)
Signature Micro-Engine: service-smb-advanced (INACTIVE)
Signature Micro-Engine: service-msrpc (INACTIVE)
     Total Signatures: 3
     Total Enabled Signatures: 0
     Total Retired Signatures: 0
     Total Compiled Signatures: 3
Router#
Router# copy flash:IOS-S258-CLI-kd.pkg idconf
*Nov 14 2006 17:19:47 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_BUILDS_STARTED: 17:19:47 MST Nov 14 2006
*Nov 14 2006 17:19:47 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_BUILDING: multi-string - 3 signatures - 1 of 13 
engines
*Nov 14 2006 17:19:47 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_READY: multi-string - build time 4 ms - packets 
for this engine will be scanned
*Nov 14 2006 17:19:47 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_BUILDING: service-http - 611 signatures - 2 of 13 
engines
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:00 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_READY: service-http - build time 12932 ms - 
packets for this engine will be scanned
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:00 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_BUILDING: string-tcp - 864 signatures - 3 of 13 
engines
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:02 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_READY: string-tcp - build time 2692 ms - packets 
for this engine will be scanned
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:02 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_BUILDING: string-udp - 74 signatures - 4 of 13 
engines
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_READY: string-udp - build time 316 ms - packets 
for this engine will be scanned
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_BUILDING: state - 28 signatures - 5 of 13 engines
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_READY: state - build time 24 ms - packets for 
this engine will be scanned
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_BUILDING: atomic-ip - 252 signatures - 6 of 13 
engines
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-4-META_ENGINE_UNSUPPORTED: atomic-ip 2154:0 - this 
signature is a component of the unsupported META engine
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_READY: atomic-ip - build time 232 ms - packets 
for this engine will be scanned
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_BUILDING: string-icmp - 3 signatures - 7 of 13 e
Router# engines
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_READY: string-icmp - build time 12 ms - packets 
for this engine will be scanned
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_BUILDING: service-ftp - 3 signatures - 8 of 13 
engines
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_READY: service-ftp - build time 8 ms - packets 
for this engine will be scanned
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_BUILDING: service-rpc - 75 signatures - 9 of 13 
engines
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_READY: service-rpc - build time 80 ms - packets 
for this engine will be scanned
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_BUILDING: service-dns - 38 signatures - 10 of 13 
engines
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_READY: service-dns - build time 20 ms - packets 
for this engine will be scanned
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_BUILDING: normalizer - 9 signatures - 11 of 13 
engines
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_READY: normalizer - build time 0 ms - packets for 
this engine will be scanned
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_BUILDING: service-msrpc - 22 signatures - 12 of 
13 engines
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ENGINE_READY: service-msrpc - build time 8 ms - packets 
for this engine will be scanned
*Nov 14 2006 17:20:03 MST: %IPS-6-ALL_ENGINE_BUILDS_COMPLETE: elapsed time 16344 ms
Router#
Router#
Router# show ip ips signature count
Cisco SDF release version S258.0
Signature Micro-Engine: multi-string
     Total Signatures: 3
       Enabled: 3 
       Retired: 3 
Signature Micro-Engine: service-http
     Total Signatures: 611
       Enabled: 159 
       Retired: 428 
       Compiled: 183 
Signature Micro-Engine: string-tcp
     Total Signatures: 864
       Enabled: 414 
       Retired: 753 
       Compiled: 111 
Signature Micro-Engine: string-udp
     Total Signatures: 74
       Enabled: 1 
       Retired: 44 
       Compiled: 30 
Signature Micro-Engine: state
     Total Signatures: 28
       Enabled: 16 
       Retired: 25 
       Compiled: 3 
Signature Micro-Engine: atomic-ip
     Total Signatures: 252
       Enabled: 56 
       Retired: 148 
       Compiled: 103 
       Inactive - invalid params: 1 
Signature Micro-Engine: string-icmp
     Total Signatures: 3
       Enabled: 0 
       Retired: 2 
       Compiled: 1 
Signature Micro-Engine: service-ftp
     Total Signatures: 3
       Enabled: 1 
       Compiled: 3 
Signature Micro-Engine: service-rpc
            Total Signatures: 75
       Enabled: 44 
       Retired: 44 
       Compiled: 31 
Signature Micro-Engine: service-dns
     Total Signatures: 38
       Enabled: 30 
       Retired: 5 
       Compiled: 33 
Signature Micro-Engine: normalizer
     Total Signatures: 9
       Enabled: 8 
       Retired: 5 
       Compiled: 4 
Signature Micro-Engine: service-smb-advanced (INACTIVE)
Signature Micro-Engine: service-msrpc
     Total Signatures: 22
       Enabled: 22 
       Retired: 22
Enabling Automatic Signature Updates: Example

The following example shows how to configure automatic signature updates and issue the show ip ips auto-update command to verify the configuration. In this example, the signature package file is pulled from the TFTP server at the start of every hour or every day, Sunday through Thursday. (Note that adjustments are made for months without 31 days and daylight savings time.)
Router# clock set ?
hh:mm:ss Current Time
Router# clock set 10:38:00 20 apr 2006
Router#
*Apr 20 17:38:00.000: %SYS-6-CLOCKUPDATE: System clock has been updated from 10:37:55 MST 
Thu Apr 20 2006 to 10:38:00 MST Thu Apr 20 2006, configured from console by cisco on 
console.
Router(config)# ip ips auto-update
Router(config-ips-auto-update)# occur-at 0 0-23 1-31 1-5
Router(config-ips-auto-update)# $s-auto-update/IOS_reqSeq-dw.xml 
Router(config-ips-auto-update)#^Z
Router#
*May 4 2006 15:50:28 MST: IPS Auto Update: setting update timer for next update: 0 hrs 10 
min
*May 4 2006 15:50:28 MST: %SYS-5-CONFIG_I: Configured from console by cisco on console
Router#
Router# show ip ips auto-update 
IPS Auto Update Configuration
URL : tftp://192.168.0.2/jdoe/ips-auto-update/IOS_reqSeq-dw.xml
Username : not configured
Password : not configured
Auto Update Intervals
  minutes (0-59) : 0
  hours (0-23) : 0-23
  days of month (1-31) : 1-31
  days of week: (0-6) : 1-5
Configuring and Verifying SDEE on your Router: Example

The following example shows how to configure and verify SDEE on your router:
Router(config)# ip ips notify SDEE 
Router(config)# ip sdee event 500
Router(config)# ip sdee subscriptions 1
Router(config)# ip sdee messages 500
Router(config)# ip sdee alerts 2000
router(config)# exit
*Nov 9 21:41:33.171: %SYS-5-CONFIG_I: Configured from console by cisco on console 
Router# show ip sdee all
Configured concurrent subscriptions: 1
No currently open subscriptions.
Alert storage: 2000 alerts using 560000 bytes of memory
Message storage: 500 messages using 212000 bytes of memory
SDEE Events
Time Type Description
Router#

Additional References

The following sections provide references related to the Cisco IOS IPS 5.0 Enhancements feature.

Related Documents

Related Topic

Document Title

IPS and firewall commands

Cisco IOS Security Command Reference

Loading images and file systems

The chapter "Loading and Managing System Images" in the Cisco IOS Configuration Fundamentals Configuration Guide

Standards

Standard

Title

No new or modified standards are supported by this feature.

—

MIBs

MIB

MIBs Link

No new or modified MIBs are supported by this feature.

To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms, Cisco IOS releases, and feature sets, use Cisco MIB Locator found at the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com/go/mibs

RFCs

RFC

Title

No new or modified RFCs are supported by this feature.

—

Technical Assistance

Description

Link

The Cisco Support website provides extensive online resources, including documentation and tools for troubleshooting and resolving technical issues with Cisco products and technologies.

To receive security and technical information about your products, you can subscribe to various services, such as the Product Alert Tool (accessed from Field Notices), the Cisco Technical Services Newsletter, and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) Feeds.

Access to most tools on the Cisco Support website requires a Cisco.com user ID and password.

http://www.cisco.com/techsupport

Feature Information for Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

Table 1 lists the release history for this feature.

Not all commands may be available in your Cisco IOS software release. For release information about a specific command, see the command reference documentation.

Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and software image support. Cisco Feature Navigator enables you to determine which Cisco IOS and Catalyst OS software images support a specific software release, feature set, or platform. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to http://www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.

Note Table 1 lists only the Cisco IOS software release that introduced support for a given feature in a given Cisco IOS software release train. Unless noted otherwise, subsequent releases of that Cisco IOS software release train also support that feature.

Table 1 Feature Information for Cisco IOS 5.x Format Signatures with Cisco IOS IPS

Feature Name

Releases

Feature Information

Cisco IOS IPS 5.x Signature Format and Usability Enhancements

12.4(11)T

This feature introduces support for Cisco IOS Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) version 5.0, which is a version-based signature definition XML format. Cisco IOS IPS 4.x format signatures are replaced by the 5.x format signatures that are used by all other Cisco IPS devices.

The following commands were introduced or modified by this feature: alert-severity, category, copy idconf enabled (IPS), engine (IPS), event-action, fidelity-rating, ip ips auto-update, ip ips config location, ip ips event-action-rules, ip ips signature-category, ip ips signature-definition, occur-at (ips-auto-update), retired (IPS), show ip ips auto-update, signature, status, target-value, url (ips-auto-update), username (ips-autoupdate).

Cisco IOS IPS with Lightweight Signatures

15.0(1)M

This feature extends support for lightweight signatures in Cisco IOS IPS. Lightweight signatures allow the loading of a larger number of signatures simultaneously, without consuming significant additional memory or reducing the memory consumed by an existing signature set.

The following section provides information about this feature:

•Cisco IOS IPS Signature Scanning with Lightweight Signatures

•Enabling IPS Regex Table Chaining

•Enabling Signature Tunings Inheritance

•Setting an IPS Memory Threshold

The following commands were introduced or modified by this feature: ip ips inherit-obsolete tunings, ip ips memory regex chaining, ip ips memory threshold.

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