Configuring WLAN Security

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 Table at the end of this document.

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

Prerequisites for Layer 2 Security

WLANs with the same SSID must have unique Layer 2 security policies so that clients can make a WLAN selection based on information advertised in beacon and probe responses. The available Layer 2 security policies are as follows:

  • None (open WLAN)

  • Static WEP or 802.1X


    Note

    Because static WEP and 802.1X are both advertised by the same bit in beacon and probe responses, they cannot be differentiated by clients. Therefore, they cannot both be used by multiple WLANs with the same SSID.

  • WPA/WPA2


    Note

    • Although WPA and WPA2 cannot be used by multiple WLANs with the same SSID, you can configure two WLANs with the same SSID with WPA/TKIP with PSK and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA )/Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) with 802.1X, or with WPA/TKIP with 802.1X or WPA/AES with 802.1X.

    • A WLAN that is configured with TKIP support will not be enabled on an RM3000AC module.

Information About AAA Override

The AAA Override option of a WLAN enables you to configure the WLAN for identity networking. It enables you to apply VLAN tagging, Quality of Service (QoS), and Access Control Lists (ACLs) to individual clients based on the returned RADIUS attributes from the AAA server.

How to Configure WLAN Security

Configuring Static WEP + 802.1X Layer 2 Security Parameters (CLI)

Before you begin

You must have administrator privileges.

SUMMARY STEPS

  1. configure terminal
  2. wlan profile-name
  3. security static-wep-key { authentication { open | sharedkey} | encryption { 104 | 40} [ ascii | hex] { 0| 8} } wep-key wep-key-index1-4
  4. end

DETAILED STEPS

  Command or Action Purpose
Step 1

configure terminal

Example:

Switch# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.
Step 2

wlan profile-name

Example:

Switch# wlan test4

Enters the WLAN configuration submode. The profile-name is the profile name of the configured WLAN.

Step 3

security static-wep-key { authentication { open | sharedkey} | encryption { 104 | 40} [ ascii | hex] { 0| 8} } wep-key wep-key-index1-4

Example:

Switch(config-wlan)# security static-wep-key encryption 40 hex 0 test 2
Configures static WEP security on a WLAN. The keywords and arguments are as follows:

  • authentication —Configures 802.11 authentication.

  • encryption —Sets the static WEP keys and indices.

  • open —Configures open system authentication.

  • sharedkey —Configures shared key authentication.

  • 104, 40—Specifies the WEP key size.

  • hex, ascii —Specifies the input format of the key.

  • wep-key-index , wep-key-index1-4 —Type of password that follows. A value of 0 indicates that an unencrypted password follows. A value of 8 indicates that an AES encrypted follows.

Step 4

end

Example:

Switch(config)# end

Returns to privileged EXEC mode. Alternatively, you can also press Ctrl-Z to exit global configuration mode.

Configuring Static WEP Layer 2 Security Parameters (CLI)

Before you begin

You must have administrator privileges.

SUMMARY STEPS

  1. configure terminal
  2. wlan profile-name
  3. security static-wep-key [ authentication {open | shared} | encryption { 104 | 40} { ascii | hex} [0 | 8] ]
  4. end

DETAILED STEPS

  Command or Action Purpose
Step 1

configure terminal

Example:

Switch# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.
Step 2

wlan profile-name

Example:

Switch# wlan test4

Enters the WLAN configuration submode. The profile-name is the profile name of the configured WLAN.

Step 3

security static-wep-key [ authentication {open | shared} | encryption { 104 | 40} { ascii | hex} [0 | 8] ]

Example:

Switch(config-wlan)# security static-wep-key authentication open

The keywords are as follows:

  • static-wep-key —Configures Static WEP Key authentication.

  • authentication —Specifies the authentication type you can set. The values are open and shared.

  • encryption —Specifies the encryption type that you can set. The valid values are 104 and 40. 40-bit keys must contain 5 ASCII text characters or 10 hexadecimal characters. 104-bit keys must contain 13 ASCII text characters or 26 hexadecimal characters

  • ascii —Specifies the key format as ASCII.

  • hex —Specifies the key format as HEX.

Step 4

end

Example:

Switch(config)# end

Returns to privileged EXEC mode. Alternatively, you can also press Ctrl-Z to exit global configuration mode.

Configuring WPA + WPA2 Layer 2 Security Parameters (CLI)


Note
The default security policy is WPA2.

Before you begin

You must have administrator privileges.

SUMMARY STEPS

  1. configure terminal
  2. wlan profile-name
  3. security wpa
  4. security wpa wpa1
  5. security wpa wpa1 ciphers [ aes | tkip]
  6. security wpa wpa2
  7. security wpa wpa2 ciphers [aes | tkip]
  8. end

DETAILED STEPS

  Command or Action Purpose
Step 1

configure terminal

Example:

Switch# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.
Step 2

wlan profile-name

Example:

Switch# wlan test4

Enters the WLAN configuration submode. The profile-name is the profile name of the configured WLAN.

Step 3

security wpa

Example:

Switch(config-wlan)# security wpa

Enables WPA.
Step 4

security wpa wpa1

Example:

Switch(config-wlan)# security wpa wpa1

Enables WPA1.
Step 5

security wpa wpa1 ciphers [ aes | tkip]

Example:

Switch(config-wlan)# security wpa wpa1 ciphers aes
Specifies the WPA1 cipher. Choose one of the following encryption types:

  • aes —Specifies WPA/AES support.

  • tkip —Specifies WPA/TKIP support.

Step 6

security wpa wpa2

Example:

Switch(config-wlan)# security wpa

Enables WPA 2.
Step 7

security wpa wpa2 ciphers [aes | tkip]

Example:

Switch(config-wlan)# security wpa wpa2 ciphers tkip
Configure WPA2 cipher. Choose one of the following encryption types:

  • aes —Specifies WPA/AES support.

  • tkip —Specifies WPA/TKIP support.

Step 8

end

Example:

Switch(config)# end

Returns to privileged EXEC mode. Alternatively, you can also press Ctrl-Z to exit global configuration mode.

Configuring 802.1X Layer 2 Security Parameters (CLI)

Before you begin

You must have administrator privileges.

SUMMARY STEPS

  1. configure terminal
  2. wlan profile-name
  3. security dot1x
  4. security [authentication-list auth-list-name | encryption {0 | 104 | 40}
  5. end

DETAILED STEPS

  Command or Action Purpose
Step 1

configure terminal

Example:

Switch# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.
Step 2

wlan profile-name

Example:

Switch# wlan test4

Enters the WLAN configuration submode. The profile-name is the profile name of the configured WLAN.

Step 3

security dot1x

Example:

Switch(config-wlan)# security dot1x

Specifies 802.1X security.
Step 4

security [authentication-list auth-list-name | encryption {0 | 104 | 40}

Example:

Switch(config-wlan)# security encryption 104
The keywords and arguments are as follows:

  • authentication-list —Specifies the authentication list for IEEE 802.1X.

  • encryption —Specifies the length of the CKIP encryption key. The valid values are 0, 40, and 104. Zero (0) signifies no encryption. This is the default.

Note 
All keys within a WLAN must be of the same size.
Step 5

end

Example:

Switch(config)# end

Returns to privileged EXEC mode. Alternatively, you can also press Ctrl-Z to exit global configuration mode.

Configuring Layer 2 Parameters (GUI)

Before you begin

  • You must have administrator privileges.

Procedure

Step 1

Click Configuration > WLAN > .

The WLANs page appears.

Step 2

Click the WLANs profile of the WLAN you want to configure.

The WLANs > Edit > page appears.

Step 3

Click the Security > Layer 2 > tab.

Parameter Description

Layer2 Security

Layer 2 security for the selected WLAN. Values are the following:

  • None—No Layer 2 security selected.

  • WPA+WPA2—Wi-Fi Protected Access.

  • 802.1X—WEP 802.1X data encryption type. For information on these settings, see the Layer 2 802.1X Parameters topic.

  • Static WEP—Static WEP encryption parameters.

  • Static WEP + 802.1x—Both Static WEP and 802.1X parameters.

MAC Filtering

MAC address filtering. You can locally configure clients by their MAC addresses in the MAC Filters > New page . You can add a maximum of 12000 local net users. Otherwise, configure the clients on a RADIUS server.

Note 
MAC Filtering is also known as MAC Authentication By Pass (MAB).
Fast Transition Check box to enable or disable a fast transition between access points.
Over the DS Check box to enable or disable a fast transition over a distributed system.
Reassociation Timeout Time in seconds after which a fast transition reassociation times out.

To configure the WPA + WPA2 parameters, provide the following details:

Parameter Description

WPA Policy

Check box to enable or disable WPA policy.

WPA Encryption

WPA2 encryption type: TKIP or AES. Available only if the WPA policy is enabled.

WPA2 Policy.

Check box to enable or disable WPA2 policy.

WPA2 Encryption

WPA2 encryption type: TKIP or AES. Available only if the WPA2 policy is enabled.

Authentication Key Management

The rekeying mechanism parameter.. Values are the following:

  • 802.1X

  • CCKM

  • PSK

  • 802.1x + CCKM

PSK Format

Enabled when you select the PSK value for Authentication Key Management. Choose ASCII or the HEX format and enter the preshared key.

To configure 802.1x parameters, provide the following details:

Parameter Description

802.11 data encryption

WEP 802.11 data encryption type.

Type

Security type.

Key size

Key size. Values are the following:

  • None

  • 40 bits

  • 104 bits

The third-party AP WLAN (17) can only be configured with 802.1X encryption. Drop-down configurable 802.1X parameters are not available for this WLAN.

To specify Static WEP, configure the following parameters:

Parameter Description

802.11 Data Encryption

Static WEP encryption type.

Current Key

Displays the current selected key details.

Type

Security type.

Key size

Key size. Values are the following:

  • Not set

  • 40 bits

  • 104 bits

Key Index

Key index from 1 to 4.

One unique WEP key index can be applied to each WLAN. Because there are only four WEP key indexes, only four WLANs can be configured for static WEP Layer 2 encryption.

Because there are only four WEP key indexes, only four WLANs can be configured for static WEP Layer 2 encryption.

Encryption Key

Encryption key.

Key Format

Encryption key format in ASCII or HEX.

Allow Shared Key Authentication

Key authentication that you can enable or disable.

To configure Static WEP + 802.1X Parameters

Parameter Description
Static WEP Parameters
802.11 Data Encryption Static WEP encryption type.
Current Key Displays the current selected key details.
Type Security type.
Key size Key size. Values are the following:

  • Not set

  • 40 bits

  • 104 bits

Key Index

Key index from 1 to 4.

The key index is unique per WLAN. You can only have one "key 1" on a given WLAN. You can define up to 4 keys per WLAN, and the switch will announce the key index, to allow clients configured the same way to know what key to use. This is per WLAN.

You can configure all your WLANs (up to 512) as WEP if you want, each with up to 4 keys.

Encryption Key Encryption key.
Key Format Encryption key format in ASCII or HEX.
Allow Shared Key Authentication Key authentication that you can enable or disable.
802.1x Parameters

802.11 Data Encryption

Static WEP encryption type.

Type

Security type.

Key size

Key size. Values are the following:

  • Not set

  • 40 bits

  • 104 bits

Step 4

Click Apply.

Additional References

Related Documents

Related Topic Document Title

WLAN command reference

 WLAN Command Reference, Cisco IOS XE Release 3SE (Cisco WLC 5700 Series)WLAN Command Reference, Cisco IOS XE Release 3SE (Catalyst 3850 Switches)

Security configuration guide

 Security Configuration Guide (Catalyst 3850 Switches)Security Configuration Guide (Cisco WLC 5700 Series)

Error Message Decoder

Description Link

To help you research and resolve system error messages in this release, use the Error Message Decoder tool.

https://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/Support/Errordecoder/index.cgi

MIBs

MIB MIBs Link
All supported MIBs for this release.

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

Technical Assistance

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Feature Information about WLAN Layer 2 Security

This table lists the features in this module and provides links to specific configuration information.
Feature Name Release Feature Information
WLAN Security functionality Cisco IOS XE 3.2SECisco IOS XE 3.2SE This feature was introduced.