Disable Certificate Authority and Trustpoint

foreverlearning

What Happens If You Disable Certificate Authority and Trustpoint on a cisco router?
How will the administrator that logins gets authenticated then?

JDMurray

GPT-4 sez:

When you disable a certificate authority (CA) and trustpoint on a Cisco router, you disable the ability for the router to use certificates for authenticating connections. This could include SSL/TLS connections for secure web management (HTTPS), VPN connections, or other secure connections that might be configured to use certificates for authentication.

If the router was relying on a certificate-based authentication system for administrative login, such as certificate-based SSH or HTTPS logins, these would no longer function once the CA and trustpoint are disabled.

However, disabling the CA and trustpoint will not affect other forms of authentication, such as password or token-based authentication, unless they are tied to the certificate-based security infrastructure. In the vast majority of cases, an administrator logging into a router would do so using a username and password, rather than a certificate, so they would still be able to login as usual.

If you want to shift from certificate-based authentication to another form, you will need to properly configure it first before disabling the CA and trustpoint. This could involve setting up local usernames and passwords, configuring RADIUS or TACACS+ servers for centralized authentication, or implementing another form of secure authentication.

Always ensure you have another way of securely accessing the router before you disable any authentication method, to avoid being locked out of the device.

Finally, remember that the overall security posture of the network may be affected if you disable certificate-based authentication, especially if the router is used for VPN connections or other secure services. Always consider the wider implications and make sure you have adequate security controls in place.

foreverlearning

JDMurray said:

GPT-4 sez:

When you disable a certificate authority (CA) and trustpoint on a Cisco router, you disable the ability for the router to use certificates for authenticating connections. This could include SSL/TLS connections for secure web management (HTTPS), VPN connections, or other secure connections that might be configured to use certificates for authentication.

If the router was relying on a certificate-based authentication system for administrative login, such as certificate-based SSH or HTTPS logins, these would no longer function once the CA and trustpoint are disabled.

However, disabling the CA and trustpoint will not affect other forms of authentication, such as password or token-based authentication, unless they are tied to the certificate-based security infrastructure. In the vast majority of cases, an administrator logging into a router would do so using a username and password, rather than a certificate, so they would still be able to login as usual.

If you want to shift from certificate-based authentication to another form, you will need to properly configure it first before disabling the CA and trustpoint. This could involve setting up local usernames and passwords, configuring RADIUS or TACACS+ servers for centralized authentication, or implementing another form of secure authentication.

Always ensure you have another way of securely accessing the router before you disable any authentication method, to avoid being locked out of the device.

Finally, remember that the overall security posture of the network may be affected if you disable certificate-based authentication, especially if the router is used for VPN connections or other secure services. Always consider the wider implications and make sure you have adequate security controls in place.

Thank you for your reply.
What parameters are needed to be known if certificate-based SSH or HTTPS logins is still being used?
For example we need to key in the server URL etc...
What information do I need from the system team?

Does disabling the cert by not disabling the trustpoint make any sense?