Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller Software Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS XE 26.1.x

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Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller Software Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS XE 26.1.x

Boot integrity visibility

Updated: April 10, 2026

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Boot integrity visibility allows the Cisco platform identity and software integrity information to be visible.

Boot integrity visibility is a security feature that

  • makes Cisco platform identity and software integrity information visible,

  • enables verification of the boot process through checksum evaluation, and

  • assists in ensuring that only trusted code is booted on the platform.

Platform identity provides the platform’s manufacturing installed identity. Software integrity exposes boot integrity measurements used to assess if trusted code has been booted.

During the boot process, the software creates a checksum record of each bootloader stage, which can be compared against a Cisco-certified record to verify the authenticity of the software image. Mismatched checksum values might indicate a non-Cisco certified or altered software image.

Feature history for boot integrity visibility

This table provides release and related information for the feature explained in this module.

This feature is also available in all the releases subsequent to the one in which they are introduced in, unless noted otherwise.

Table 1. Feature History for Boot Integrity Visibility

Release

Feature Information

Cisco IOS XE 17.4.1

This feature was introduced.

Verify software image and hardware

Verify the integrity of the device’s software image and hardware by retrieving and reviewing the checksum records created during switch bootup.

This task describes how to retrieve the checksum record that was created during a switch bootup.

Enter the following commands in privileged EXEC mode. The messages % Error retrieving SUDI certificate and % Error retrieving integrity data signify a real CLI failure.

Note

On executing the following commands, you might see the message % Please Try After a Few Seconds displayed on the CLI. This does not indicate a CLI failure, but indicates setting up of underlying infrastructure required to get the required output. We recommend waiting for a few minutes and then try the command again.

Procedure

1.

View the checksum record for a specific SUDI

Example:

Device# show platform sudi certificate sign nonce 123

Displays checksum record for the specific SUDI.

  • (Optional) sign - Shows signature

  • (Optional) nonce nonce - Enter a nonce value
2.

View the checksum record for boot stages

Example:

Device# show platform integrity sign nonce 123

Displays checksum record for boot stages.

  • (Optional) sign - Shows signature

  • (Optional) nonce nonce - Enter a nonce value

You obtain the checksum records for the device’s software image and hardware, confirming their integrity or identifying any issues.

Verify platform identity and software integrity

Verify platform identity

The following example displays the Secure Unique Device Identity (SUDI) chain in PEM format. Each SUDI includes the Product ID (PID) and serial number (SN), so you can uniquely identify each device on a large network.

The first certificate is the Cisco Root CA 2048, and the second is the Cisco subordinate CA (ACT2 SUDI CA). You can verify both certificates by comparing them with those published on https://www.cisco.com/security/pki/. The third certificate is the SUDI certificate.

The CLI outputs in this document are examples for your reference. Your output may differ depending on the configuration of your device.

Device# show platform sudi certificate sign nonce 123
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIDQzCCAiugAwIBAgIQX/h7KCtU3I1CoxW1aMmt/zANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQUFADA1
MRYwFAYDVQQKEw1DaXNjbyBTeXN0ZW1zMRswGQYDVQQDExJDaXNjbyBSb290IENB
IDIwNDgwHhcNMDQwNTE0MjAxNzEyWhcNMjkwNTE0MjAyNTQyWjA1MRYwFAYDVQQK
Ew1DaXNjbyBTeXN0ZW1zMRswGQYDVQQDExJDaXNjbyBSb290IENBIDIwNDgwggEg
MA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4IBDQAwggEIAoIBAQCwmrmrp68Kd6ficba0ZmKUeIhH
xmJVhEAyv8CrLqUccda8bnuoqrpu0hWISEWdovyD0My5jOAmaHBKeN8hF570YQXJ
FcjPFto1YYmUQ6iEqDGYeJu5Tm8sUxJszR2tKyS7McQr/4NEb7Y9JHcJ6r8qqB9q
VvYgDxFUl4F1pyXOWWqCZe+36ufijXWLbvLdT6ZeYpzPEApk0E5tzivMW/VgpSdH
jWn0f84bcN5wGyDWbs2mAag8EtKpP6BrXruOIIt6keO1aO6g58QBdKhTCytKmg9l
Eg6CTY5j/e/rmxrbU6YTYK/CfdfHbBcl1HP7R2RQgYCUTOG/rksc35LtLgXfAgED
o1EwTzALBgNVHQ8EBAMCAYYwDwYDVR0TAQH/BAUwAwEB/zAdBgNVHQ4EFgQUJ/PI
FR5umgIJFq0roIlgX9p7L6owEAYJKwYBBAGCNxUBBAMCAQAwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEF
BQADggEBAJ2dhISjQal8dwy3U8pORFBi71R803UXHOjgxkhLtv5MOhmBVrBW7hmW
Yqpao2TB9k5UM8Z3/sUcuuVdJcr18JOagxEu5sv4dEX+5wW4q+ffy0vhN4TauYuX
cB7w4ovXsNgOnbFp1iqRe6lJT37mjpXYgyc81WhJDtSd9i7rp77rMKSsH0T8lasz
Bvt9YAretIpjsJyp8qS5UwGH0GikJ3+r/+n6yUA4iGe0OcaEb1fJU9u6ju7AQ7L4
CYNu/2bPPu8Xs1gYJQk0XuPL1hS27PKSb3TkL4Eq1ZKR4OCXPDJoBYVL0fdX4lId
kxpUnwVwwEpxYB5DC2Ae/qPOgRnhCzU=
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----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-----END CERTIFICATE-----
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----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-----END CERTIFICATE-----
 
Signature version: 1
Signature:
3979C316CCA81F724E971976A6DA839E54A7B9843EDBB0A59B0205ED18075499481EE71C1643D3A4D200CD5B22FD5804B422BD7826ECEBFD0C15C37D77D6C4D8F7B07AA8A9EEB95EBAD62985C4642760E4D4718C13E82B4770790B8E7AD518F80784B8A32B814155A0AB5BF41FFE305543EB7A3590F288916D78EA524171FB1553891D9ED8054095DF66A98660F9A738E818D14F2847784F65E8AFFEFEFC8A13AF2C3DCCD05604DCE37BD286A6529B8D366964B6FC61F4FF4973971A271B756EFADEA46A5E863257AC424C209BB7607BE020ABD71623611C32C0DEE7642A89D2EBC42AF0107CDA245DCB69A055B0A9792B7DEFCF68CA16B95FB7C9E32697EB4F

The optional RSA 2048 signature covers the three certificates, the signature version, and the user-provided nonce.

RSA PKCS#1v1.5 Sign {<Nonce (UINT64)> || <Signature Version (UINT32)> || <Cisco Root CA 2048 cert (DER)> || 
<Cisco subordinate CA (DER)> || <SUDI certificate (DER)>}

Cisco management solutions interpret this output. You can also use a simple script with OpenSSL commands to display platform identity and verify the signature, which helps confirm the Cisco unique device identity..

[linux-host:~]openssl x509 -in sudi_id.pem -subject -noout
subject= /serialNumber=PID:C9600-SUP-1 SN:CAT2239L06B/CN=C9600-SUP-1-70b3171eaa00

Verify software integrity

The following example shows the checksum record for the boot stages. The hash measurements appear for each of the three software stages when they boot in sequence. Compare these hashes to the Cisco-provided reference values.

Signing the output ensures it is genuine and unaltered. Provide a nonce to protect against replay attacks.

Note

Boot integrity hashes are not MD5 hashes. For example, if you run verify /md5 cat9k_iosxe.16.10.01.SPA.bin command for the bundle file, the hash will not match.

The following is a sample output of the show platform integrity sign nonce 123 command. This output includes measurements of each installed package file.

Device# show platform integrity sign nonce 123
Platform: C9800-L-F-K9        
Boot 0 Version: R04.1173930452019-06-11
Boot 0 Hash: A6C92C44976FC77DD42234444FFD87798FB9036A2762FAA4999A190A0258B18C
Boot Loader Version: 16.12(1r)
Boot Loader Hash: FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
OS Version: 2020-03-19_20.26
OS Hashes:
C9800-L-universalk9_wlc.2020-03-19_20.26.SSA.bin: 
53E2DF1A1A082E36EA4CAB817C1794EC9D69AC0E90BCCBFECF9BCD0BCA9385AA9E9372ABF7431E4A08FC5E5B9670131C09D158E5B8A7B457501FE77AB9F1C26D
C9800-L-mono-universalk9_wlc.2020-03-19_20.26.SSA.pkg: 1D3279D53B0311CE42C669824DF86FB5596CD7CA45CA8D7FDC3D10657B8C9A48F4B0508D7BCFFD645CB6571AC1E674A57A82414E3D6E1666BE64E6132F707671
PCR0: EE14A2D5099DA343B3941C54A429C4AC1D3EE8E9B609F1AC00049768A470734E
PCR8: 78794D0F5667F8FA4E425E3CA2AF3CD99B90B219FD90222D622B3D563416BBAA
Note

Only OS and package hashes are supported.