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.

    • WLAN WEP is not supported in 1810w Access Point.


  • 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:

Device# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 2

wlan profile-name

Example:

Device# 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:

Device(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:

Device(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:

Device# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 2

wlan profile-name

Example:

Device# 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:

Device(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:

Device(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:

Device# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 2

wlan profile-name

Example:

Device# wlan test4

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

Step 3

security wpa

Example:

Device(config-wlan)# security wpa

Enables WPA.

Step 4

security wpa wpa1

Example:

Device(config-wlan)# security wpa wpa1

Enables WPA1.

Step 5

security wpa wpa1 ciphers [ aes | tkip]

Example:

Device(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:

Device(config-wlan)# security wpa

Enables WPA 2.

Step 7

security wpa wpa2 ciphers [aes | tkip]

Example:

Device(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:

Device(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:

Device# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 2

wlan profile-name

Example:

Device# wlan test4

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

Step 3

security dot1x

Example:

Device(config-wlan)# security dot1x

Specifies 802.1X security.

Step 4

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

Example:

Device(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:

Device(config)# end

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

Additional References

Related Documents

Related Topic Document Title

WLAN command reference

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

Security configuration guide

Security Configuration Guide (Catalyst 3850 Switches)

Error Message Decoder

Description Link

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MIBs

MIB MIBs Link
All supported MIBs for this release.

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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 3.2SE This feature was introduced.