Description | This article describes the troubleshooting steps when a user fails to authenticate via the 802.1x method due to the expiry of the EAP certificate. |
Scope | FortiAuthenticator. |
Solution |
An EAP Server certificate is mandatory when the authentication method is configured for 802.1x. The EAP Server certificate configuration can be found via the following path in the dashboard: Authentication -> RADIUS Service -> Certificates.
If the authentication has been working all the while and happens to stop working all of a sudden, check the RADIUS debug log via the following link: https://<FAC_IP/FQDN>/debug/
The debug log would provide detailed information about the actual root cause of an authentication attempt failure. In the EAP server certificate that has expired, the following logs will be shown:
2024-12-07T08:38:30.170116+08:00 FAC01 radiusd[9140]: (5929453) eap: Expiring EAP session with state 0x001266ce07ea7ffd
Referring to the line being pointed out in the example, it is indicating that the EAP Server Certificate has expired. To resolve this issue, renew the certificate with a valid expiry date and the authentication will start working. If default factory certificates are used, refer to the following link to renew the certificate: Troubleshooting-Tip-Fix-an-expired-default-server-certificate
If the certificate has been signed by an external Certificate Authority (public/private), the certificate renewal has to be processed by the respective party and be imported into FortiAuthenticator after the certificate has been renewed. |
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