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Security

How to see which ports are configured for 802.1X

802.1X decides whether a device plugged into a wall socket is allowed onto the network at all. NacTrack reads that configuration back off the switches, so you can see where port authentication was actually deployed rather than where it was meant to be. The gap between the two is usually the point: an access switch installed after the rollout, or a floor that was skipped, keeps its ports open to anyone with a cable.

All the questions
The same procedure as a recording, subtitled in English and French.
Before you start

What you need

  • Module required: beta_testing.
  • Permission required: view_inventory.
  • Cisco access switches; the fields come from interface configuration

1. Read the list

app.nactrack.com/port-security
Read the list
Every row is one authenticated port. The first column names the switch, so reading down it tells you which switches took part and, just as usefully, which never appear at all.

2. Read Port Control and Host Mode

app.nactrack.com/port-security
Read Port Control and Host Mode
Two columns carry the meaning. Port Control set to auto is the one that enforces: the port stays shut until the connected device authenticates. Host Mode says how many devices may share the socket, and multi-domain is the usual choice for a desk, allowing one computer alongside one IP phone.
The limits

What this view does not tell you

  • This is configuration, not activity. A port shown as auto is set up to demand authentication; the page does not say whether anything authenticated on it, or whether a supplicant ever tried.
  • A switch that is missing from the list is not necessarily unprotected. It may be a core or aggregation switch with no user-facing ports, where 802.1X would have nothing to authenticate.

Try the same thing on your own estate

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