Table Of Contents
Cisco ASA 5500 Series Release Notes Version 7.2(2)
Determining the Software Version
Upgrading to a New Software Version
HTTP(S) Authentication Challenge Flexible Configuration
sysopt uauth allow-http-cache Command
Features not Supported in Version 7.2(2)
Using Priority-Queue on ASA Model 5505
Resolved Caveats - Version 7.2(2)
Cisco Product Security Overview
Reporting Security Problems in Cisco Products
Product Alerts and Field Notices
Obtaining Technical Assistance
Definitions of Service Request Severity
Obtaining Additional Publications and Information
Cisco ASA 5500 Series Release Notes Version 7.2(2)
November 2006Contents
This document includes the following sections:
•
Cisco Product Security Overview
•
Product Alerts and Field Notices
•
Obtaining Technical Assistance
•
Obtaining Additional Publications and Information
Introduction
The Cisco ASA 5500 series adaptive security appliances are purpose-built solutions that combine the most effective security and VPN services with the innovative Cisco Adaptive Identification and Mitigation (AIM) architecture. Designed as a key component of the Cisco Self-Defending Network, the adaptive security appliance provides proactive threat defense that stops attacks before they spread through the network, controls network activity and application traffic, and delivers flexible VPN connectivity. The result is a powerful multifunction network adaptive security appliance family that provides the security breadth and depth for protecting small and medium-sized business and enterprise networks while reducing the overall deployment and operations costs and complexities associated with providing this new level of security.
For more information on all the new features, see New Features.
Additionally, the adaptive security appliance software supports Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM). ASDM delivers world-class security management and monitoring through an intuitive, easy-to-use web-based management interface. Bundled with the adaptive security appliance, ASDM accelerates adaptive security appliance deployment with intelligent wizards, robust administration tools, and versatile monitoring services that complement the advanced integrated security and networking features offered by the market-leading suite of the adaptive security appliance. Its secure, web-based design enables anytime, anywhere access to adaptive security appliances.
System Requirements
The sections that follow list the system requirements for operating an adaptive security appliance. This section includes the following topics:
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Determining the Software Version
•
Upgrading to a New Software Version
Memory Requirements
Table 1 lists the DRAM memory requirements for the adaptive security appliance.
Table 1 DRAM Memory Requirements
ASA Model DRAM MemoryASA 5505
256 MB
ASA 5510
256 MB
ASA 5520
512 MB
ASA 5540
1024 MB
ASA 5550
4096 MB
All adaptive security appliances require a minimum of 64 MB of internal CompactFlash.
In a failover configuration, the two units must have the same hardware configuration. They must be the same model, have the same number and types of interfaces, and the same amount of RAM. For more information, see the "Configuring Failover" chapter in the Cisco Security Appliance Command Line Configuration Guide.
Note
If using two units with different Flash memory sizes, make sure that the unit with the smaller Flash memory has enough space for the software images and configuration files.
Determining the Software Version
Use the show version command to verify the software version of your adaptive security appliance. Alternatively, you can see the software version, on the Cisco ASDM home page.
Upgrading to a New Software Version
If you have a Cisco.com (CDC) login, you can obtain software from the following website:
http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/products.shtml
You must upgrade or downgrade from Version 7.1.(x) to Version 7.2(2) and vice versa because older versions of the ASA images do not recognize new ASDM images, new ASA images do not recognize old ASDM images.
You can also use command-line interface to download the image, see the "Downloading Software or Configuration Files to Flash Memory" section in the Cisco Security Appliance Command Line Configuration Guide.
To upgrade from Version 7.1.(x) to 7.2(2), you must perform the following steps:
Step 1
Load the new 7.2(2) image from the following website:
http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/asa
Step 2
Reload the device so that it uses the 7.2(2) image.
Step 3
Load the new ASDM 5.2.(x) image from the following website:
http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/asa.
Step 4
Enter the following command, this will tell the adaptive security appliance where to find the ASDM image:
hostname(config)# asdm image disk0:/ asdm fileTo downgrade from Version 7.2(2) to 7.1.(x), you must perform the following steps:
Step 1
Load the 7.1(x) image from the following website:
http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/asa
Step 2
Reload the device so that it uses the 7.1(x) image.
Step 3
Load the ASDM 5.1(x) image from the following website:
http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/asa.
Step 4
Enter the following command, this will tell the adaptive security appliance where to find the ASDM image:
hostname(config)# asdm image disk0:/ asdm file
New Features
This section lists the new features for Version 7.2(2). All new features are supported in ASDM 5.2(2).
Password Reset
Version 7.2(2) adds a new command, the hw-module module <slot#> password-reset command, to reset the password on the AIP-SSM and CSC-SSM modules, it resets the password of user 'cisco' back to the default value 'cisco'.
HTTP(S) Authentication Challenge Flexible Configuration
In Version 7.2(2), the adaptive security appliance authenticates HTTP network connections using basic HTTP authentication and authenticates HTTPS connections by generating similar custom login windows. This is the same exact behavior that was present in Version 7.1 and prior. You can use basic HTTP authentication if:
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You do not want the adaptive security appliance to open listening ports
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You use NAT on a router and you do not want to create a translation rule for the web page served by the adaptive security appliance
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Basic HTTP authentication might work better with your network. For example non-browser applications, like when a URL is embedded in email, might be more compatible with basic authentication.
The new aaa authentication listener command enables the adaptive security appliance to authenticate web pages and select the form based redirection approach that is currently used in Version 7.2(1). In the absence of this new command, Version 7.1 authentication method is used.
Note
By default the the aaa authentication listener command is not present in the configuration, making Version 7.1 aaa behavior the default for 7.2(2). However, when a Version 7.2(1) configuration is upgraded to Version 7.2(2), the appropriate aaa authentication listener commands are added to the configuration so that the aaa behavior will not be changed by the upgrade.
In Versions 7.1 and prior, the adaptive security appliance authenticated HTTP and HTTPS network connections by interacting with the client in a transparent manner, by using basic authentication for HTTP connections and by generating similar custom login windows for HTTPS connections. After successfully authenticating the client, the adaptive security appliance would connect through to the intended server. This approach did not require listening ports to be opened on the adaptive security appliance interfaces.
In Version 7.2(1), this functionality was replaced by a form based authentication approach where HTTP and HTTPS connections are redirected to authentication pages that are served from the adaptive security appliance. After successful authentication, the browser is again redirected to the originally-intended URL. This was done to provide:
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More graceful support authentication challenge processing
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An identical authentication experience for http and https users
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A persistent logon/logoff URL for network users This approach does require listening ports to be opened on the adaptive security appliance on each interface on which aaa authentication was enabled.
Important Notes
This section lists important notes related to Version 7.2(2).
Maximum Number of VLANs
The maximum number of VLANs for the Security Plus license on the ASA 5505 adaptive security appliance was increased from 5 (3 fully functional; 1 failover; one restricted to a backup interface) to 20 fully functional interfaces. In addition, the number of trunk ports was increased from 1 to 8. Now there are 20 fully functional interfaces, you do not need to use the backup interface command to cripple a backup ISP interface; you can use a fully-functional interface for it. The backup interface command is still useful for an Easy VPN configuration.
VLAN limits were also increased for the ASA 5510 adaptive security appliance (from 10 to 50 for the Base license, and from 25 to 100 for the Security Plus license), the ASA 5520 adaptive security appliance (from 100 to 150), the ASA 5550 adaptive security appliance (from 200 to 250).
For more information, see the Configuring Switch Ports and VLAN Interfaces for the Cisco ASA 5505 Adaptive Security Appliance chapter in the Cisco Security Appliance Command Line Configuration Guide.
virtual http Command
The virtual http command has been restored. This is needed with basic authentication when you have cascading authentication requests.
sysopt uauth allow-http-cache Command
The sysopt uauth allow-http-cache command is deprecated.
FIPS 140-2
Version 7.2(2) has been submitted for FIPS 140 Level 2 validation.
Features not Supported in Version 7.2(2)
The PPTP feature is not supported in Version 7.2(2).
Using Priority-Queue on ASA Model 5505
On ASA Model 5505 (only), configuring priority-queue on one interface overwrites the same configuration on all other interfaces. That is, only the last applied configuration is present on all interfaces. Further, if the priority-queue configuration is removed from one interface, it is removed from all interfaces. This problem is present only on ASA5505 platforms.
To work around this issue, configure the priority-queue command on only one interface. If different interfaces need different settings for the queue-limit and/or tx-ring-limit commands, use the largest of all queue-limits and smallest of all tx-ring-limits on any one interface (CSCsi13132).
Caveats
The following sections describe the caveats for the Version 7.2(2).
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:
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Commands are in boldface type.
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Product names and acronyms may be standardized.
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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://www.cisco.com/support/bugtools
To become a registered cisco.com user, go to the following website:
http://tools.cisco.com/RPF/register/register.do
Open Caveats - Version 7.2(2)
Resolved Caveats - Version 7.2(2)

