For release 21.0 and higher, the default is Algorithm B.
Important
For release 15.0 and higher, another type of encryption algorithm can be specified. The Global Configuration
mode
cli-encrypt-algorithm
command allows an operator to configure the password/secret encryption
algorithm. The default encryption/password algorithm for releases prior to 21.0 is MD-5 as described above
(option A). A second password encryption algorithm (option B) uses AES-CTR-128 for encryption and
HMAC-SHA1 for authentication. The encryption key protects the confidentiality of passwords, while the
authentication key protects their integrity. For release 21.0 and higher Algorithm B is the default. Passwords
encrypted with this key will have "+B" prefixes in the configuration file.
For release 19.2 and higher, a third type of encryption algorithm can be specified (option C). This algorithm
specifies the use of the HMAC-SHA512 cipher algorithm for encryption and authentication. Passwords
encrypted with this key will have "+C" prefixes in the configuration file.
Also for release 19.2 and higher, the encryption key is hashed from the chassis ID and a 16-byte Initialization
Vector (IV) obtained from an internal random number generator. No two passwords are encrypted using the
same encryption key/IV pair. The Security Administrator must set a chassis key in order to generate the chassis
ID and resulting encryption key. A default chassis key based on a local MAC address is no longer supported.
The syntax for the
cli-encrypt-algorithm
command is:
config
cli-encrypt-algorithm { A | B | C }
Support for Non-Current Encryptions and Decryptions
The system supports previously formatted encrypted passwords. The syntax of the encrypted passwords
indicates which methodology was used for encryption. If the system does not see a prefix before the encrypted
password, the earlier encryption method using a fixed key will be used. If the encrypted password includes
the "+A" prefix, the decryption method uses the chassis key and random salt.
If the user saves a new configuration, the generated file will always contain passwords encrypted by the most
recent method. The user cannot generate the earlier DES-based encryption values. However, all future StarOS
releases will continue to support plain-text password entry for all two-way encryptable passwords
The recommended process for changing the chassis key without causing a "lock-out" state is as follows:
•
Load the configuration file of the last good configuration using the previous chassis key.
•
Change the chassis key to the new desired value.
•
Save the configuration with this new chassis key.
Refer to
Configuring a Chassis Key
in
System Settings
for additional information.
Support for ICSR Configurations
Inter-Chassis Session Recovery (ICSR) is a redundancy configuration that employs two identically configured
chassis/instances as a redundant pair.
ICSR pairs share the same chassis key. If the ISCR detects that the two chassis/instances have incompatible
chassis keys, an error message is logged but the ICSR system will continue to run. Without the matching
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System Security
Support for Non-Current Encryptions and Decryptions