Pass the HP Aruba-ACNSA HPE6-A78 Questions and answers with CertsForce

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) relies on a trusted root Certification Authority (CA) to issue certificates. Devices and users must trust the root CA for the PKI to be effective. If a root CA certificate is not pre-installed or manually chosen to be trusted on a device, any certificates issued by that CA will not be inherently trusted by the device.

EAP-TLS and PEAP both provide secure authentication methods, but they differ in their requirements for client-side authentication. EAP-TLS requires both the client (supplicant) and the server to authenticate each other with certificates, thereby ensuring a very high level of security. On the other hand, PEAP requires a server-side certificate to create a secure tunnel and allows the client to authenticate using less stringent methods, such as a username and password, which are then protected by the tunnel. This makes PEAP more flexible in environments where client-side certificates are not feasible.

In a WLAN setup that uses 802.1X for authentication, the role assigned to a user is determined by the result of the authentication process. When a user successfully authenticates via 802.1X, the RADIUS server may include a Vendor-Specific Attribute (VSA), such as the Aruba-User-Role, in the Access-Accept message. This attribute specifies the role that should be assigned to the user. If the RADIUS Access-Accept message includes an Aruba-User-Role VSA set to "employee1", the client should be assigned the "employee1" role, as per the VSA, and not the default "guest" role. The "guest" role would typically be a fallback if no other role is specified or if the authentication fails.

Control Plane Security (CPSec) is a feature in HPE Aruba Networking’s AOS-8 architecture that secures the communication between Access Points (APs) and Mobility Controllers (MCs). The control plane includes management traffic, such as AP registration, configuration updates, and heartbeat messages, which are critical for the operation of the wireless network.

Option A, "It protects management traffic between APs and Mobility Controllers (MCs) from eavesdropping," is correct. CPSec uses certificate-based authentication and encryption (IPSec tunnels) to secure the control plane communication between APs and MCs. This ensures that management traffic, which includes sensitive information like configuration data and AP status, is encrypted and protected from eavesdropping by unauthorized parties on the network.

Option B, "It prevents Denial of Service (DoS) attacks against Mobility Controllers' (MCs') control plane," is incorrect. While CPSec enhances security by authenticating APs and encrypting traffic, it is not specifically designed to prevent DoS attacks. DoS attacks against the control plane are mitigated by other features, such as rate limiting or firewall policies on the MC.

Option C, "It protects wireless clients' traffic, tunneled between APs and Mobility Controllers, from eavesdropping," is incorrect. CPSec protects the control plane (management traffic), not the data plane (client traffic). Client traffic in a tunneled architecture (e.g., GRE tunnels) is protected by the client’s wireless encryption (e.g., WPA3), not CPSec.

Option D, "It prevents access from unauthorized IP addresses to critical services, such as SSH, on Mobility Controllers (MCs)," is incorrect. CPSec does not control access to services like SSH on the MC. Access to such services is managed by other features, such as access control lists (ACLs) or management authentication settings on the MC.

The HPE Aruba Networking AOS-8 8.11 User Guide states:

"Control Plane Security (CPSec) enhances network security by protecting the management traffic between Access Points (APs) and Mobility Controllers (MCs). When CPSec is enabled, the control plane communication is secured using certificate-based authentication and IPSec encryption, preventing eavesdropping and ensuring that only authorized APs can communicate with the MC. This protects sensitive management data, such as AP configuration and status updates, from being intercepted." (Page 392, CPSec Overview Section)

Additionally, the HPE Aruba Networking CPSec Deployment Guide notes:

"CPSec secures the control plane by encrypting management traffic between APs and MCs, ensuring that attackers cannot eavesdrop on or tamper with this communication. It does not protect client data traffic, which is secured by wireless encryption protocols like WPA3." (Page 8, CPSec Benefits Section)

WPA3-Personal enhances security over WPA2-Personal by implementing individualized data encryption. This feature, known as Wi-Fi Enhanced Open, provides each user's session with a unique encryption key, even if they are using the same network passphrase. This prevents an authenticated user from eavesdropping on the traffic of other users on the same network, thus enhancing privacy and security.

The Match method 'Eth-Wired-Mac-Table' suggests that the BSSID of the rogue AP has been found in the Ethernet (wired) MAC address table of the network infrastructure. This means the AP is physically connected to the LAN. If the BSSID does not match the company's authorized APs, it implies the AP is unauthorized and hence classified as a rogue.

ClearPass Onboard is part of the Aruba ClearPass suite and it provides a mechanism to deploy certificates to end-user devices, regardless of whether or not they are members of a Windows domain. ClearPass Onboard facilitates the configuration and provisioning of network settings and security, including the delivery and installation of certificates to ensure secure network access. This capability enables a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) environment where devices can be securely managed and provided with the necessary certificates for network authentication.

An ArubaOS user role determines the firewall policies and bandwidth contracts that apply to the client’s traffic. When a user is authenticated, they are assigned a role, and this role has associated policies that govern network access rights, Quality of Service (QoS), Layer 2 forwarding, Layer 3 routing behaviors, and bandwidth contracts for users or devices.

The scenario involves AOS-CX switches in a two-tier topology with Switch-1 as the core switch (default router) on VLAN 100 and Switch-2 as an access layer switch with VLANs 15 and 25, where end-user devices connect. The goal is to protect against exploits from untrusted end-user devices, such as DHCP spoofing or ARP poisoning attacks, which are common threats in access layer networks.

DHCP Snooping: This feature protects against rogue DHCP servers by filtering DHCP messages. It should be enabled on the access layer switch (Switch-2) where end-user devices connect, specifically on the VLANs where these devices reside (VLANs 15 and 25). DHCP snooping builds a binding table of legitimate IP-to-MAC mappings, which can be used by other features like ARP inspection.

ARP Inspection: This feature prevents ARP poisoning attacks by validating ARP packets against the DHCP snooping binding table. It should also be enabled on the access layer switch (Switch-2) on VLANs 15 and 25, where untrusted devices are connected.

Option B, "On Switch-2, enable DHCP snooping globally and on VLANs 15 and 25. Later, enable ARP inspection on the same VLANs," is correct. DHCP snooping must be enabled first to build the binding table, and then ARP inspection can use this table to validate ARP packets. This configuration should be applied on Switch-2, the access layer switch, because that’s where untrusted end-user devices connect.

Option A, "On Switch-1, enable ARP inspection on VLAN 100 and DHCP snooping on VLANs 15 and 25," is incorrect. Switch-1 is the core switch and does not directly connect to end-user devices on VLANs 15 and 25. DHCP snooping and ARP inspection should be enabled on the access layer switch (Switch-2) where the devices reside. Additionally, enabling ARP inspection on VLAN 100 (where the DHCP server is) is unnecessary since the DHCP server is a trusted device.

Option C, "On Switch-2, enable BPDU filtering on all edge ports in order to prevent eavesdropping attacks by untrusted devices," is incorrect. BPDU filtering is used to prevent spanning tree protocol (STP) attacks by blocking BPDUs on edge ports, but it does not protect against eavesdropping or other exploits like DHCP spoofing or ARP poisoning, which are more relevant in this context.

Option D, "On Switch-1, enable DHCP snooping on VLAN 100 and ARP inspection on VLANs 15 and 25," is incorrect for the same reason as Option A. Switch-1 is not the appropriate place to enable these features since it’s not directly connected to the untrusted devices on VLANs 15 and 25.

The HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX 10.12 Security Guide states:

"DHCP snooping should be enabled on access layer switches where untrusted end-user devices connect. It must be enabled globally and on the specific VLANs where the devices reside (e.g., dhcp-snooping vlan 15,25). This feature builds a binding table of IP-to-MAC mappings, which can be used by Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI) to prevent ARP poisoning attacks. DAI should also be enabled on the same VLANs (e.g., ip arp inspection vlan 15,25) after DHCP snooping is configured, ensuring that ARP packets are validated against the DHCP snooping binding table." (Page 145, DHCP Snooping and ARP Inspection Section)

Additionally, the guide notes:

"Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI) and DHCP snooping are typically configured on access layer switches to protect against exploits from untrusted devices, such as DHCP spoofing and ARP poisoning. These features should be applied to the VLANs where end-user devices connect, not on core switches unless those VLANs are directly connected to untrusted devices." (Page 146, Best Practices Section)

HPE Aruba Networking ClearPass Device Insight is an advanced profiling solution integrated with ClearPass Policy Manager (CPPM) to enhance endpoint classification. It uses a combination of passive and active profiling techniques, along with machine learning, to identify and categorize devices on the network.

Option A, "Highly accurate endpoint classification for environments with many device types, including Internet of Things (IoT)," is correct. ClearPass Device Insight is designed to provide precise device profiling, especially in complex environments with diverse device types, such as IoT devices (e.g., smart cameras, thermostats). It leverages deep packet inspection (DPI), behavioral analysis, and a vast fingerprint database to accurately classify devices, enabling granular policy enforcement based on device type.

Option B, "Simpler troubleshooting of ClearPass solutions across an environment with multiple ClearPass Policy Managers," is incorrect. ClearPass Device Insight focuses on device profiling, not on troubleshooting ClearPass deployments. Troubleshooting across multiple CPPM instances would involve tools like the Event Viewer or Access Tracker, not Device Insight.

Option C, "Visibility into devices’ 802.1X supplicant settings and automated certificate deployment," is incorrect. ClearPass Device Insight does not provide visibility into 802.1X supplicant settings or automate certificate deployment. Those functions are handled by ClearPass Onboard (for certificate deployment) or Access Tracker (for authentication details).

Option D, "Agent-based analysis of devices’ security settings and health status, with the ability to implement quarantining," is incorrect. ClearPass Device Insight does not use agents for analysis; it relies on network traffic and active/passive profiling. Agent-based analysis and health status checks are features of ClearPass OnGuard, not Device Insight. Quarantining can be implemented by CPPM policies, but it’s not a direct benefit of Device Insight.

The ClearPass Device Insight Data Sheet states:

"ClearPass Device Insight provides highly accurate endpoint classification for environments with many device types, including Internet of Things (IoT) devices. It uses a combination of passive and active profiling techniques, deep packet inspection (DPI), and machine learning to identify and categorize devices with precision, enabling organizations to enforce granular access policies in complex networks." (Page 2, Benefits Section)

Additionally, the HPE Aruba Networking ClearPass Policy Manager 6.11 User Guide notes:

"ClearPass Device Insight enhances device profiling by offering highly accurate classification, especially for IoT and other non-traditional devices. It leverages a vast fingerprint database and advanced analytics to identify device types, making it ideal for environments with diverse endpoints." (Page 252, Device Insight Overview Section)