![]() |
Table Of Contents
Cisco ASA 5500 Series Release Notes Version 7.0(4)
Determining the Software Version
Upgrading to a New Software Release
Important Notes in Release 7.0
Hostname and Domain Name Limitation
ACS Radius Authorization Server
Readme Document for the Conduits and Outbound List Conversion Tool 1.2
Features not Supported in Version 7.0
Resolved Caveats - Release 7.0(4)
Software Configuration Tips on the Cisco TAC Home Page
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request
Cisco ASA 5500 Series Release Notes Version 7.0(4)
October 2005
Contents
This document includes the following sections:
•
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request
Introduction
The Cisco ASA 5500 series security appliance delivers unprecedented levels of defense against threats to the network with deeper web inspection and flow specific analysis, improved secure connectivity through end-point security posture validation and voice and video over VPN support. It also provides enhanced support for intelligent information networks through improved network integration, resiliency, and scalability. This release introduces significant enhancements to all major functional areas, including: firewalling and inspection services, VPN services, network integration, high-availability services, and management/monitoring.
For more information on all the new features, see New Features.
Additionally, the Cisco ASA 5500 series security appliance software supports Adaptive Security Device Manager. ASDM is a browser-based, Java applet used to configure and monitor the software on the security appliances. ASDM is loaded from the security appliance, then used to configure, monitor, and manage the device.
System Requirements
The sections that follow list the system requirements for operating a Cisco ASA 5500 series security appliance. This section includes the following topics:
•
Determining the Software Version
•
Upgrading to a New Software Release
Memory Requirements
Table 1 lists the DRAM memory requirements for the Cisco ASA 5500 series security appliance.
Table 1 DRAM Memory Requirements
ASA Model DRAM MemoryASA 5510
256 MB
ASA 5520
512 MB
ASA 5540
1 GB
All Cisco ASA 5500 series security appliances require a minimum of 64 MB of internal CompactFlash.
Determining the Software Version
Use the show version command to verify the software version of your Cisco ASA 5500 series security appliance.
Upgrading to a New Software Release
If you have a Cisco.com (CDC) login, you can obtain software from the following website:
http://www.cisco.com/cisco/software/navigator.html
New Features
Released: October 15, 2005Table 2 lists the new features for ASA and PIX Version 7.0(4)/ASDM Version 5.0(4).
Table 2 New Features for ASA and PIX Version 7.0(4)/ASDM Version 5.0(4)
Feature Description Platform FeaturesSupport for the 4GE SSM
The 4GE Security Services Module (SSM) is an optional I/O card for the adaptive security appliance. The 4GE SSM expands the total number of ports available on the security appliance, providing four additional ports with Ethernet (RJ-45) or SFP (fiber optic) connections.
VPN FeaturesWebVPN Capture Feature
The WebVPN capture feature lets you log information about websites that do not display properly over a WebVPN connection. You can enable the WebVPN capture feature with the capture command, but note that it has an adverse affect on the performance of the security appliance. So, be sure to disable this feature after you have captured the information that you need for troubleshooting.
Auto Update Over a VPN Tunnel
With this release, the auto-update server command has a new source interface argument that lets you specify an interface, such as a VPN tunnel used for management access and specified by the management-access command:
auto-update server url [source interface] [verify-certificate]
HTTP proxy applet
The HTTP proxy is an Internet Proxy, that supports both HTTP and HTTPS connections. The HTTP proxy code modifies the browser proxy configuration dynamically to redirect all browser HTTP/S requests to the new proxy configuration. This allows the Java Applet to take over as the proxy for the browser.
HTTP Proxy can be used in conjunction with the Port Forwarding (Application Access) feature or by itself.
Note
The HTTP proxy feature only works when using Internet Explorer.
On some of the older computers, running Windows XP, the RunOnce Reg-Key is not available, causing the Port Forwarding HTTP-Proxy feature to fail when attempting to modify Proxy settings on Internet Explorer.
You can mannually change the registry. Complete the following steps to change the registry manually:
a.
Click Start | Run.
b.
Type regedit in the open text box, and click OK.
c.
Open this folder: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
d.
Right click inside the CurrentVersion and select New | Key.
e.
Name the new key RunOnce.
f.
Click OK.
To configure file access and file browsing, MAPI Proxy, HTTP Proxy, and URL entry over WebVPN for this user or group policy, use the functions command in WebVPN mode.
IPSec VPN: Add support for cascading ACLs
Cascading ACLs involves the insertion of deny ACEs to bypass evaluation against an ACL and resume evaluation against a subsequent ACL in the crypto map set. Because you can associate each crypto map with different IPSec settings, you can use deny ACEs to exclude special traffic from further evaluation in the corresponding crypto map, and match the special traffic to permit statements in another crypto map to provide or require different security. The sequence number assigned to the crypto ACL determines its position in the evaluation sequence within the crypto map set.
Troubleshooting and Monitoring FeaturesCrashinfo Enhancement
Output from the crashinfo command might contain sensitive information that is inppropriate for viewing by all users connected to the security appliance. The new crashinfo console disable command lets you suppress the output from displaying on the console.
Rate limiting of Syslog messages
The logging rate limit enables you to limit the rate at which system log messages are generated. You can limit the number of system messages that are generated during a specified time interval.
You can limit the message generation rate for all messages, a single message ID, a range of message IDs, or all messages with a particular severity level. To limit the rate at which system log messages are generated, use the logging rate-limit command.
Firewall FeaturesConnection timeout using Modular Policy Framework
The new set connection timeout command lets you configure the timeout period, after which an idle TCP connection is disconnected.
Downloadable ACL Enhancements
A new feature has been added to ensure that downloadable ACL requests sent to a RADIUS server come from a valid source through the Message-Authenticator attribute.
Upon receipt of a RADIUS authentication request that has a username attribute containing the name of a downloadable ACL, Cisco Secure ACS authenticates the request by checking the Message-Authenticator attribute. The presence of the Message-Authenticator attribute prevents malicious use of a downloadable ACL name to gain unauthorized network access. The Message-Authenticator attribute and its use are defined in RFC 2869, RADIUS Extensions, available at http://www.ietf.org.
Converting Wildcards to Network Mask in Downloadable ACL
Some Cisco products, such as the VPN 3000 concentrator and Cisco IOS routers, require you to configure dowloadable ACLs with wildcards instead of network masks. The Cisco ASA 5500 adaptive security appliance, on the other hand, requires you to configure downloadable ACLs with network masks. This new feature allows the security appliance to convert a wildcard to a netmask internally. Translation of wildcard netmask expressions means that downloadable ACLs written for Cisco VPN 3000 series concentrators can be used by the security appliance without altering the configuration of the downloadable ACLs on the RADIUS server.
You can configure ACL netmask conversion on a per-server basis, using the acl-netmask-convert command, available in the AAA-server configuration mode.
Application Inspection FeaturesSupport GTP Load Balancing Across GSNs
If the security appliance performs GTP inspection, by default the security appliance drops GTP responses from GSNs that were not specified in the GTP request. This situation occurs when you use load-balancing among a pool of GSNs to provide efficiency and scalability of GPRS. You can enable support for GSN pooling by using the permit response command. This command configures the security appliance to allow responses from any of a designated set of GSNs, regardless of the GSN to which a GTP request was sent.
Important Notes
Important Notes in Release 7.0
This section lists important notes related to release 7.0(4).
Common Criteria EAL4+
For information on common criteria EAL4+, see the Installation and Configuration for Common Criteria EAL4+ Evaluated Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance, Version 7.0(4) document.
FIPS 140-2
The Cisco ASA 5500 series security appliance is on the FIPS 140-2 Pre-Validation List.
Hostname and Domain Name Limitation
When using ASDM, the hostname and domain names combined should not be more than 63 characters long. If the hostname and domain names combined is more than 63 characters, you will get an error message.
WebVPN ACLS and DNS Hostname
When a deny webtype URL ACL (DNS-based) is defined, but the DNS-based URL is not reachable, a "DNS Error" popup is displayed on the browser. The ACL hitcounter is also not incremented.
If the URL ACL is defined by an IP instead of DNS name, then the traffic flow hitting the ACL will be recorded in the hitcounter and a "Connection Error" is displayed on the browser.
Proxy Server and ASA
If WebVPN is configured to use an HTTP(S)-proxy server to service all requests for browsing HTTP and/or HTTPS sites, the client/browser may expect the following behavior:
1.
If the ASA cannot communicate with the HTTPS or HTTPS proxy server, a "connection error" is displayed on the client browser.
2.
If the HTTP(S) proxy cannot resolve or reach the requested URL, it should send an appropriate error to the ASA, which in turn will display it to the client browser.
Only when the HTTP(S) proxy server notifies the ASA of the inaccessible URL, can the ASA notify the error to the client browser.
Mismatch PFS
The PFS setting on the VPN client and the security appliance must match.
ACS Radius Authorization Server
When certificate authentication is used in conjuction with Radius authorization, the ACS server sends a bogus Group=CISCOACS:0003b9c6/5a940131/username and is displayed in the vpn-session database.
Readme Document for the Conduits and Outbound List Conversion Tool 1.2
The Cisco ASA 5500 series security appliance Outbound/Conduit Conversion tool assists in converting configurations with outbound or conduit commands to similar configurations using ACLs. ACL-based configurations provide uniformity and leverage the powerful ACL feature set. ACL based configurations provide the following benefit:
•
ACE Insertion capability - System configuration and management is greatly simplified by the ACE insertion capability that allows users to add, delete or modify individual ACEs.
User Upgrade Guide
•
For a list of deprecated features, and user upgrade information, go to the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/security/asa/asa70/vpn3000_upgrade/upgrade/guide/migr_vpn.html
Features not Supported in Version 7.0
The following features are not supported in Version 7.0(4):
•
PPPoE
•
L2TP over IPSec
•
PPTP
MIB Supported
For information on MIB Support, go to:
http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/netmgmt/cmtk/mibs.shtml
Downgrade to Previous Version
To downgrade to a previous version of the operating system software (software image), use the downgrade command in privileged EXEC mode. For more information and a complete description of the command syntax, see the Cisco Security Appliance Command Reference.
Caveats
The following sections describe the caveats for the 7.0(4) release.
For your convenience in locating caveats in Cisco's Bug Toolkit, the caveat titles listed in this section are drawn directly from the Bug Toolkit database. These caveat titles are not intended to be read as complete sentences because the title field length is limited. In the caveat titles, some truncation of wording or punctuation may be necessary to provide the most complete and concise description. The only modifications made to these titles are as follows:
•
Commands are in boldface type.
•
Product names and acronyms may be standardized.
•
Spelling errors and typos may be corrected.
Note
If you are a registered cisco.com user, view Bug Toolkit on cisco.com at the following website:
http://tools.cisco.com/Support/BugToolKit/
To become a registered cisco.com user, go to the following website:
http://tools.cisco.com/RPF/register/register.do
Open Caveats - Release 7.0(4)
Resolved Caveats - Release 7.0(4)
Related Documentation
For additional information on the Cisco ASA 5500 series security appliance, refer to the following documentation found on Cisco.com:
•
Cisco ASA 5500 Hardware Installation Guide
•
Cisco ASA 5500 Quick Start Guide
•
Cisco Security Appliance Command Line Configuration Guide
•
Cisco Security Appliance Command Reference
•
Migrating to ASA for VPN 3000 Series Concentrator Administrators
Software Configuration Tips on the Cisco TAC Home Page
The Cisco Technical Assistance Center has many helpful pages. If you have a CDC account you can visit the following websites for assistance:
TAC Troubleshooting, Sample Configurations, Hardware Info, Software Installations and more:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/vpndevc/ps2030/
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request
For information on obtaining documentation, submitting a service request, and gathering additional information, see the monthly What's New in Cisco Product Documentation, which also lists all new and revised Cisco technical documentation, at:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/general/whatsnew/whatsnew.html
Subscribe to the What's New in Cisco Product Documentation as a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed and set content to be delivered directly to your desktop using a reader application. The RSS feeds are a free service and Cisco currently supports RSS version 2.0.
![]()