System and method for implementing network device management in an undersecured environment

A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:

• authenticating user equipment over a network interface;
• communicating with a secure enclave-hosted vault to dynamically generate a temporary authorization token;
• sending the temporary authorization token to the user equipment;
• receiving an authentication verification request from a network device via a TACACS protocol interface for authentication and command authorization, wherein the authentication verification request includes the temporary authorization token;
• verifying the temporary authorization token against securely stored credentials;
• and
• providing an authentication verification response to the network device via the TACACS protocol interface, thereby implementing a Zero-Trust security model for network device management in an unsecured environment.

A method, comprising:

• authenticating, by a processing system including a processor, user equipment over a network interface;
• coordinating, by the processing system, with a secure enclave-hosted vault to dynamically generate a temporary authorization token;
• sending, by the processing system, the temporary authorization token to the user equipment;
• receiving, by the processing system, an authentication verification request from a network device via a TACACS protocol interface for authentication and command authorization, wherein the authentication verification request includes the temporary authorization token;
• verifying, by the processing system, the temporary authorization token against securely stored credentials;
• and
• providing, by the processing system, an authentication verification response to the network device via the TACACS protocol interface, thereby implementing a Zero-Trust security model for network device management in an unsecured environment.