Cisco client debug - 802.11 Association Status Code

When you enable client debug you can be hit with a ton of information. One of the things I look at is the 802.11 association status code. The status code is very telling. It can provide information about your client and if there is a connection issue. Another tool to add to your bag of tricks. 

Lets take a peek at a debug log

*apfMsConnTask_0: May 11 23:31:21.186: b4:f0:ab:e3:19:6a 0.0.0.0 8021X_REQD (3) DHCP Not required on AP 08:1f:f3:e1:8f:c0 vapId 4 apVapId 4for this client

*apfMsConnTask_0: May 11 23:31:21.186: b4:f0:ab:e3:19:6a Not Using WMM Compliance code qosCap 00

*apfMsConnTask_0: May 11 23:31:21.186: b4:f0:ab:e3:19:6a 0.0.0.0 8021X_REQD (3) Plumbed mobile LWAPP rule on AP 08:1f:f3:e1:8f:c0 vapId 4 apVapId 4

*apfMsConnTask_0: May 11 23:31:21.186: b4:f0:ab:e3:19:6a apfMsAssoStateInc

*apfMsConnTask_0: May 11 23:31:21.186: b4:f0:ab:e3:19:6a apfPemAddUser2 (apf_policy.c:223) Changing state for mobile b4:f0:ab:e3:19:6a on AP 08:1f:f3:e1:8f:c0 from Idle to Associated

*apfMsConnTask_0: May 11 23:31:21.186: b4:f0:ab:e3:19:6a Stopping deletion of Mobile Station: (callerId: 48)

*apfMsConnTask_0: May 11 23:31:21.186: b4:f0:ab:e3:19:6a Sending Assoc Response to station on BSSID 08:1f:f3:e1:8f:c0 (status 0) ApVapId 4 Slot 0

*apfMsConnTask_0: May 11 23:31:21.186: b4:f0:ab:e3:19:6a apfProcessAssocReq (apf_80211.c:5272) Changing state for mobile b4:f0:ab:e3:19:6a on AP 08:1f:f3:e1:8f:c0 from Associated to Associated

Our debug shows a status code of 0. Referencing our chart below we will find our association was a success. 

802.11 Association Status Codes

https://supportforums.cisco.com/docs/DOC-33185

Code	802.11 definition	Explanation
0	Successful
1	Unspecified failure	For example : when there is no ssid specified in an association request
10	Cannot support all requested capabilities in the Capability Information field	Example Test: Reject when privacy bit is set for WLAN not requiring security
11	Reassociation denied due to inability to confirm that association exists	NOT SUPPORTED
12	Association denied due to reason outside the scope of this standard	Example : When controller receives assoc from an unknown or disabled SSID
13	Responding station does not support the specified authentication algorithm	For example, MFP is disabled but was requested by the client.
14	Received an Authentication frame with authentication transaction sequence number out of expected sequence	If the authentication sequence number is not correct.
15	Authentication rejected because of challenge failure
16	Authentication rejected due to timeout waiting for next frame in sequence
17	Association denied because AP is unable to handle additional associated stations	Will happen if you run out of AIDs on the AP; so try associating a large number of stations.
18	Association denied due to requesting station not supporting all of the data rates in the BSSBasicRateSet parameter	Will happen if the rates in the assoc request are not in the BasicRateSet in the beacon.
19	Association denied due to requesting station not supporting the short preamble option	NOT SUPPORTED
20	Association denied due to requesting station not supporting the PBCC modulation option	NOT SUPPORTED
21	Association denied due to requesting station not supporting the Channel Agility option	NOT SUPPORTED
22	Association request rejected because Spectrum Management capability is required	NOT SUPPORTED
23	Association request rejected because the information in the Power Capability element is unacceptable	NOT SUPPORTED
24	Association request rejected because the information in the Supported Channels element is unacceptable	NOT SUPPORTED
25	Association denied due to requesting station not supporting the Short Slot Time option	NOT SUPPORTED
26	Association denied due to requesting station not supporting the DSSS-OFDM option	NOT SUPPORTED
27-31	Reserved	NOT SUPPORTED
32	Unspecified, QoS-related failure	NOT SUPPORTED
33	Association denied because QAP has insufficient bandwidth to handle another QSTA	NOT SUPPORTED
34	Association denied due to excessive frame loss rates and/or poor conditions on current operating channel	NOT SUPPORTED
35	Association (with QBSS) denied because the requesting STA does not support the QoS facility	If the WMM is required by the WLAN and the client is not capable of it, the association will get rejected.
36	Reserved in 802.11	This is used in our code ! There is no blackbox test for this status code.
37	The request has been declined	This is not used in assoc response; ignore
38	The request has not been successful as one or more parameters have invalid values	NOT SUPPORTED
39	The TS has not been created because the request cannot be honored; however, a suggested TSPEC is provided so that the initiating QSTA may attempt to set another TS with the suggested changes to the TSPEC	NOT SUPPORTED
40	Invalid information element, i.e., an information element defined in this standard for which the content does not meet the specifications in Clause 7	Sent when Aironet IE is not present for a CKIP WLAN
41	Invalid group cipher	Used when received unsupported Multicast 802.11i OUI Code
42	Invalid pairwise cipher
43	Invalid AKMP
44	Unsupported RSN information element version	If you put anything but version value of 1, you will see this code.
45	Invalid RSN information element capabilities	If WPA/RSN IE is malformed, such as incorrect length etc, you will see this code.
46	Cipher suite rejected because of security policy	NOT SUPPORTED
47	The TS has not been created; however, the HC may be capable of creating a TS, in response to a request, after the time indicated in the TS Delay element	NOT SUPPORTED
48	Direct link is not allowed in the BSS by policy	NOT SUPPORTED
49	Destination STA is not present within this QBSS	NOT SUPPORTED
50	The Destination STA is not a QSTA	NOT SUPPORTED
51	Association denied because the ListenInterval is too large	NOT SUPPORTED
200 (0xC8)	Unspecified, QoS-related failure. Not defined in IEEE, defined in CCXv4	Unspecified QoS Failure. This will happen if the Assoc request contains more than one TSPEC for the same AC.
201 (0xC9)	TSPEC request refused due to AP’s policy configuration (e.g., AP is configured to deny all TSPEC requests on this SSID). A TSPEC will not be suggested by the AP for this reason code. Not defined in IEEE, defined in CCXv4	This will happen if a TSPEC comes to a WLAN which has lower priority than the WLAN priority settings. For example a Voice TSPEC coming to a Silver WLAN. Only applies to CCXv4 clients.
202 (0xCA)	Association Denied due to AP having insufficient bandwidth to handle a new TS. This cause code will be useful while roaming only. Not defined in IEEE, defined in CCXv4
203 (0xCB)	Invalid Parameters. The request has not been successful as one or more TSPEC parameters in the request have invalid values. A TSPEC SHALL be present in the response as a suggestion. Not defined in IEEE, defined in CCXv4	This happens in cases such as PHY rate mismatch. If the TSRS IE contains a phy rate not supported by the controller, for example. Other examples include sending a TSPEC with bad parameters, such as sending a date rate of 85K for a narrowband TSPEC.