Increasing HSRP Security

Problem

You want to increase the Security of HSRP between two (or more) routers.

Solution

You can configure HSRP to use password authentication with the following commands:

Router1#configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
Router1(config)#interface FastEthernet 0/1
Router1(config-if)#standby 1 ip 172.22.1.1 
Router1(config-if)#standby 1 priority 120
Router1(config-if)#standby 1 authentication OREILLY
Router1(config-if)#exit
Router1(config)#end
Router1#

You must configure the same authentication password on all routers within the same HSRP group or the conflicts will prevent HSRP from working:

Router2#configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
Router2(config)#interface FastEthernet 1/0
Router2(config-if)#standby 1 ip 172.22.1.1 
Router2(config-if)#standby 1 priority 110
Router2(config-if)#standby 1 authentication OREILLY
Router2(config-if)#exit
Router2(config)#end
Router2#

Beginning with IOS Version 12.3(2)T, Cisco introduced support for MD5-encrypted passwords. To configure strong MD5-encrypted passwords, use the following commands:

Router1#configure terminal 
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
Router1(config)#interface FastEthernet0/1                         
Router1(config-if)#standby 1 ip 10.1.1.1                          
Router1(config-if)#standby 1 priority 200                         
Router1(config-if)#standby 1 authentication md5 key-string OREILLY
Router1(config-if)#end
Router1#

You must also configure the same password and encryption ...

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