CCNP Security Question of the Week: Authenticating ASDM Users

By default, how does the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) authenticate Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) users?

A. The administrator validates the Cisco ASA by examining the factory built-in identity certificate thumbprint of the Cisco ASA.
B. The Cisco ASA automatically creates and uses a persistent self-signed certificate to authenticate ASDM user.
C. The Cisco ASA automatically creates a self-signed certificate on each reboot to authenticate the ASDM user.
D. ASDM uses the local database for authentication even if you do not configure this command.

Reveal Answer

Answer: D.

The http keyword authenticates the ASDM client that accesses the security appliance using HTTPS. You only need to configure HTTP authentication if you want to use a RADIUS or TACACS+ server. By default, ASDM uses the local database for authentication even if you do not configure this command.

If you use a TACACS+ or RADIUS server group for authentication, you can configure the security appliance to use the local database as a fallback method if the AAA server is unavailable. Specify the server group name followed by LOCAL (LOCAL is case sensitive). We recommend that you use the same username and password in the local database as the AAA server because the security appliance prompt does not give any indication which method is being used.

You can alternatively use the local database as your main method of authentication (with no fallback) by entering LOCAL alone.

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CCNP Security Question of the Week Series

CCNP Security Question of the Week: Cisco ASA Security Context
CCNP Security Question of the Week: Authenticating ASDM Users

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