Understanding the Native VLAN: Its Importance and Security Risks

What is a native VLAN?

A native VLAN is the VLAN on an IEEE 802.1Q trunk that does not have any tag bytes added.

A native VLAN is an 802.1Q virtual LAN (VLAN) that is configured on a switch port and used for untagged traffic. Typically, a VLAN tag is added to frames as they traverse a switch, allowing the switch to identify the VLAN to which the frame belongs. In contrast, untagged traffic does not include a VLAN tag. By default, untagged traffic on a switch port is assigned to the native VLAN.

The native VLAN is used for communication between devices that are not VLAN aware or for traffic that is not associated with any specific VLAN. For example, when a device connected to a switch port does not support VLANs, it will send and receive untagged traffic on the native VLAN. Similarly, control traffic, such as Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) messages, are also sent on the native VLAN.

It is important to note that the native VLAN can be prone to security risks, such as VLAN hopping attacks. Therefore, it is generally recommended to configure a separate VLAN as the native VLAN and ensure that it is not the same as any other VLAN in the network. Additionally, it is recommended to disable the native VLAN on trunk links to prevent any unauthorized access to other VLANs.

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