Port security modes
Port security supports the following categories of security mode:
MAC learning control—Includes autoLearn and secure. MAC address learning is permitted on ports in autoLearn mode and disabled on ports in secure mode.
Authentication—Implement MAC authentication, 802.1X authentication, or a combination of the two authentication methods.
Upon receiving a frame, the port in a security mode searches the MAC address table for the source MAC address. If a match is found, the port forwards the frame. If no match is found, the port learns the MAC address or performs authentication, depending on the security mode. If the frame is illegal, the port takes the pre-defined NTK, intrusion protection, or trapping action.
The maximum number of users a port supports equals the maximum number of MAC addresses that port security allows or the maximum number of concurrent users the authentication mode in use allows, whichever is smaller. For example, if 802.1X allows more concurrent users than port security's limit on the number of MAC addresses on the port in userLoginSecureExt mode, port security's limit takes effect.
Table 11 describes the port security modes and security features.
Table 11: Port security modes
Purpose | Security mode | Features that can be triggered | |
---|---|---|---|
Turning off the port security feature | noRestrictions (the default mode) In this mode, port security is disabled on the port and access to the port is not restricted. | N/A | |
autoLearn | NTK/intrusion protection | ||
secure | |||
userLogin | N/A | ||
userLoginSecure | NTK/intrusion protection | ||
userLoginSecureExt | |||
userLoginWithOUI | |||
macAddressWithRadius | NTK/intrusion protection | ||
Or | macAddressOrUserLoginSecure | NTK/intrusion protection | |
macAddressOrUserLoginSecureExt | |||
Else | macAddressElseUserLoginSecure | ||
macAddressElseUserLoginSecureExt |
TIP:
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Controlling MAC address learning
autoLearn
A port in this mode can learn MAC addresses and allows frames from learned or configured MAC addresses to pass. The automatically learned MAC addresses are secure MAC addresses. You can also configure secure MAC addresses by using the port-security mac-address security command. A secure MAC address never ages out by default.
When the number of secure MAC addresses reaches the upper limit, the port transitions to secure mode.
The dynamic MAC address learning function in MAC address management is disabled on ports operating in autoLearn mode, but you can configure MAC addresses by using the mac-address dynamic and mac-address static commands.
secure
MAC address learning is disabled on a port in secure mode. You configure MAC addresses by using the mac-address static and mac-address dynamic commands. For more information about configuring MAC address table entries, see Layer 2—LAN Switching Configuration Guide.
A port in secure mode allows only frames sourced from secure MAC addresses and manually configured MAC addresses to pass.
Performing 802.1X authentication
userLogin
A port in this mode performs 802.1X authentication and implements port-based access control. The port can service multiple 802.1X users. Once an 802.1X user passes authentication on the port, any subsequent 802.1X users can access the network through the port without authentication.
userLoginSecure
A port in this mode performs 802.1X authentication and implements MAC-based access control. The port services only one user passing 802.1X authentication.
userLoginSecureExt
This mode is similar to the userLoginSecure mode except that this mode supports multiple online 802.1X users.
userLoginWithOUI
This mode is similar to the userLoginSecure mode. The difference is that a port in this mode also permits frames from one user whose MAC address contains a specific OUI.
For wired users, the port performs 802.1X authentication upon receiving 802.1X frames and performs OUI check upon receiving non-802.1X frames.
Performing MAC authentication
macAddressWithRadius
A port in this mode performs MAC authentication and services multiple users.
Performing a combined MAC and 802.1X authentication
macAddressOrUserLoginSecure
This mode is the combination of the macAddressWithRadius and userLoginSecure modes.
For wired users, the port performs MAC authentication upon receiving non-802.1X frames and performs 802.1X authentication upon receiving 802.1X frames.
macAddressOrUserLoginSecureExt
This mode is similar to the macAddressOrUserLoginSecure mode except that this mode supports multiple 802.1X and MAC authentication users.
macAddressElseUserLoginSecure
This mode is the combination of the macAddressWithRadius and userLoginSecure modes, with MAC authentication having a higher priority as the Else keyword implies.
For wired users, the port performs MAC authentication upon receiving non-802.1X frames. Upon receiving 802.1X frames, the port performs MAC authentication, and if the MAC authentication fails, it performs 802.1X authentication.
macAddressElseUserLoginSecureExt
This mode is similar to the macAddressElseUserLoginSecure mode except that this mode supports multiple 802.1X and MAC authentication users as the keyword Ext implies.
NOTE: An OUI, as defined by the IEEE, is the first 24 bits of the MAC address, which uniquely identifies a device vendor. | ||