Understanding OSPF Authentication

All OSPF version 2 (OSPFv2) protocol exchanges can be authenticated to guarantee that only trusted routers participate in the autonomous system’s (AS’s) routing. By default, OSPF authentication is disabled.

Note: OSPFv3 does not support authentication.

You can enable either of two authentication types:

• Simple authentication—Authenticates by means of a plain-text password (key) included in the transmitted packet.
• MD5 authentication—Authenticates by means of an MD5 checksum included in the transmitted packet.

Because OSPF performs authentication at the area level, all routers within the area must have the same authentication and corresponding password (key) configured. For MD5 authentication to work, both the receiving and transmitting routers must have the same MD5 key.

Related Topics

• Junos OS Feature Support Reference for SRX Series and J Series Devices
• OSPF Overview
• Example: Enabling Authentication for OSPF Exchanges