802.1x (EAPOL Frames)

[l-nelson]

I had read at one time that 802.1x would have issues with BPDU Guard. Is that the case... Are the EAPOL Frames simliar to frames identifed by BPDU Guard as an alert?

[hadbou]

I do not think so,When enabled on a port, BPDU Guard shuts down a port that receives a BPDU. When configured globally, BPDU Guard is only effective on ports in the operational PortFast state. In a valid configuration, PortFast Layer 2 LAN interfaces do not receive BPDUs. When configured at the interface level, BPDU Guard shuts the port down as soon as the port receives a BPDU, regardless of the PortFast configuration.

802.1x is also known as EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol). It is a method of user

verification between a supplicant (PC trying to access the network) and authenticator (a

authentication server). It is designed to be independent of the device allowing the supplicant to

access the network. That device is something of a middle-man -- it just forwards communication backand forth between the supplicant and the server.

[l-nelson]

I came back to this. BPDUGuard does in fact error out because the 802.1x utilizes the multicast address range of BPDUs and does trigger the BPDUGuard.