Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method and an authentication server for verifying an access identity of a set-top box, and relate to the field of communication technologies The method of the present invention includes: receiving a verification request message sent by a set-top box, where the verification request message carries first identity cipher text information of the set-top box, software version information of the set-top box, and a user serial number, and the first identity cipher text information is generated by the set-top box according to identity information of the set-top box by using a first encryption algorithm; obtaining the identity information of the set-top box from the first identity cipher text information according to the user serial number by using a preset first decryption algorithm; and verifying the identity information of the set-top box according to the software version information.