07-25-2003 07:34 AM - edited 03-04-2019 02:52 AM
Hi,
I am attempting to understand the nuances of setting up secure passwords. While exploring the various parameters to setting up a password for the line console, I encounter the following ...
"Cisco(config-line)#password ?
0 Specifies an UNENCRYPTED password will follow
7 Specifies a HIDDEN password will follow
LINE The UNENCRYPTED (cleartext) line password"
My initial understanding of the parameter 7 is that it should enable me to specify a hidden password which would not be displayed in the sh config.
However when I proceed to test it out, I get the following results....
"line console 0
login
password 7 my_password"
followed by the following error
"Invalid Encrypted password : my_password"
What am I doing wrong here. I suspect that my understanding of the function of the hidden password is incorrect.
Thanks
CP
07-25-2003 07:46 AM
password 7 expects an MD7 encrypted string, to be entered. What you can do is use regular type 0 unencrypted password and just enable the command,
"service password-encryption" in Global config mode.
Note that type 7 encryption is very weak, and there are utilities which can break that.
07-25-2003 08:07 AM
Hi, Thank you for your responses. My questions are of an academic nature. In what situations would I use password 7. When you say that password 7 expects an MD7 encrypted string to be entered, do you copy and paste from another configurations ?
Regards
CP
07-25-2003 08:19 AM
Yes you can copy and paste too. (butmake sure you do know what the password was on the other configuration)
07-25-2003 08:27 AM
How do I generate an initial MD7 password. Does the IOS have a feature to do that or do I use an external utility.
Regards
CP
07-28-2003 01:29 AM
Use
conf t
service password-encryption
user user_name password clear_password
IOS will put following line to your config
user user_name password 7 MD7_password.
Regards,
Milan
07-25-2003 07:46 AM
the 7 specifies that the password will be encrypted
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