This article discusses the pending removal of the Microsoft Extensible Authentication Protocol-Message Digest 5 (EAP-MD5) implementation from versions of Windows Vista.

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Starting with the public release of Windows Vista, the Microsoft EAP-MD5 implementation is being deprecated from Windows. The removal of the Microsoft implementation of EAP-MD5 directly affects remote access services, virtual private network (VPN) services, and wired 802.1X deployments. By default, these components can no longer use the Microsoft EAP-MD5 implementation for authentication.

The decision to remove the Microsoft EAP-MD5 implementation was made in the interest of improving security in Windows Vista. Because EAP-MD5 does not meet Microsoft security requirements for Windows Vista, we no longer support the Microsoft EAP-MD5 implementation for authentication purposes.

Although the EAP-MD5-related registry keys no longer appear in Windows Vista, the EAP-MD5 functionality will remain in the Raschap.dll file until the release of the next major version of the Windows operating system. Because the pending removal of the Microsoft EAP-MD5 implementation may affect users who use EAP-MD5 in versions of Windows Vista, the EAP-MD5 functionality can be manually enabled. You must use the registry keys that are listed later in this section to re-enable the Microsoft native EAP-MD5 method.

Important We are not removing support for EAP-MD5 in Windows Vista. Instead, we are removing support for the Microsoft implementation of EAP-MD5. You can still use EAP-MD5 in Windows Vista by obtaining a third-party EAP-MD5 implementation or by configuring your own EAP-MD5 EAPHost-compliant EAP method.

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How to re-enable EAP-MD5 support in versions of Windows Vista

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

To re-enable EAP-MD5 support in versions of Windows Vista, add the following registry entries:

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