Set Up Client Certificate Authentication
Client certificate authentication allows users to present a certificate for
authentication to the GlobalProtect portal or gateway. The certificate can be unique or
shared for each user or endpoint, and authentication can be based on the username or device
type. Deployment methods include SCEP and local firewall certificates.
With the optional client certificate authentication,
the user presents a client certificate along with a connection request
to the GlobalProtect portal or gateway. The portal or gateway can
use either a shared or unique client certificate to validate that
the user or endpoint belongs to your organization.
To authenticate the user, one of the certificate fields,
such as the Subject Name field, must identify the username.
To authenticate the endpoint, the Subject field of the certificate
must identify the device type instead of the username. (With the
pre-logon connect methods, the portal or gateway authenticates the
endpoint before the user logs in.)
If you configure the portal or gateway to authenticate
users through client certificate authentication, users will not
have the option to Sign Out of the GlobalProtect
app if they authenticate successfully using only a client certificate.
For an agent configuration profile that specifies client certificates,
each user receives a client certificate. The mechanism for providing
the certificates determines whether a certificate is unique to each
user or the same for all users under that agent configuration:
To deploy client certificates that are unique to each
user and endpoint, use SCEP. When a user
first logs in, the portal requests a certificate from the enterprise’s
PKI. The portal obtains a unique certificate and deploys it to the
endpoint.
To deploy the same client certificate to all users that receive
an agent configuration, deploy a certificate that is Local to
the firewall.
Use an optional certificate profile to verify the client certificate
that the endpoint presents with a connection request. The certificate
profile specifies the contents of the username and user domain fields;
lists CA certificates; criteria for blocking a session; and offers
ways to determine the revocation status of CA certificates. Because
the certificate is part of the authentication of the endpoint or
user for a new session, you must pre-deploy certificates used in
certificate profiles to the endpoints before the users’ initial
portal login.
The certificate profile specifies which certificate field contains
the username. If the certificate profile specifies Subject in the
Username Field, the certificate presented by the endpoint must contain
a common-name for the endpoint to connect. If the certificate profile
specifies a Subject-Alt with an Email or Principal Name as the Username
Field, the certificate from the endpoint must contain the corresponding
fields, which will be used as the username when the GlobalProtect
app authenticates to the portal or gateway.
GlobalProtect also supports authentication by common access cards
(CACs) and smart cards, which rely on a certificate profile. With
these cards, the certificate profile must contain the root CA certificate
that issued the certificate to the smart card or CAC.
If you specify client certificate authentication, you should
not configure a client certificate in the portal configuration because
the endpoint provides it when the user connects. For an example
of how to configure client certificate authentication, see
Remote
Access VPN (Certificate Profile).
The methods for deploying client certificates depend on the security
requirements for your organization:
