GSEC · Question #64
Which of the following is a required component for successful 802.lx network authentication?
The correct answer is A. Supplicant. IEEE 802.1X requires three components - supplicant, authenticator, and authentication server - and the supplicant is the only mandatory client-side element among the choices.
Question
Which of the following is a required component for successful 802.lx network authentication?
Options
- ASupplicant
- B3rd-party Certificate Authority
- CTicket Granting Server (TGS)
- DIPSec
How the community answered
(33 responses)- A79% (26)
- B6% (2)
- C3% (1)
- D12% (4)
Why each option
IEEE 802.1X requires three components - supplicant, authenticator, and authentication server - and the supplicant is the only mandatory client-side element among the choices.
The supplicant is the end-device client (software or NIC capability) that presents credentials via EAP to the authenticator during port-based access control. IEEE 802.1X explicitly defines the supplicant as one of the three required roles alongside the authenticator (switch or AP) and the authentication server (typically RADIUS), making it a non-optional component.
A third-party Certificate Authority is not required because many 802.1X EAP methods - such as PEAP with MSCHAPv2 or EAP-TTLS - authenticate users via passwords and can use self-signed or internal certificates.
A Ticket Granting Server is a Kerberos component used in Active Directory environments and is not part of the 802.1X port-based authentication framework.
IPSec is a network-layer protocol for encrypted tunnels and VPNs and plays no role in the 802.1X authentication handshake.
Concept tested: IEEE 802.1X port-based authentication required components
Source: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/tech/lan-switching/8021x-port-based-network-access-control/index.html
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