Network Working Group R. Graveman
Request for Comments: 4891 RFG Security, LLC
Category: Informational M. Parthasarathy
Nokia
P. Savola
CSC/FUNET
H. Tschofenig
Nokia Siemens Networks
May 2007
Using IPsec to Secure IPv6-in-IPv4 Tunnels
Status of This Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does
not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this
memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2007).
Abstract
This document gives guidance on securing manually configured IPv6-in-
IPv4 tunnels using IPsec in transport mode. No additional protocol
extensions are described beyond those available with the IPsec
framework.
Graveman, et al. Informational [Page 1]
RFC 4891 IPsec with IPv6-in-IPv4 Tunnels May 2007
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Threats and the Use of IPsec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1. IPsec in Transport Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2. IPsec in Tunnel Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3. Scenarios and Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1. Router-to-Router Tunnels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2. Site-to-Router/Router-to-Site Tunnels . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.3. Host-to-Host Tunnels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4. IKE and IPsec Versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5. IPsec Configuration Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.1. IPsec Transport Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.2. Peer Authorization Database and Identities . . . . . . . . 12
6. Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
7. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
8. Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
9. Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
10. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
10.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
10.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Appendix A. Using Tunnel Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
A.1. Tunnel Mode Implementation Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
A.2. Specific SPD for Host-to-Host Scenario . . . . . . . . . . 18
A.3. Specific SPD for Host-to-Router Scenario . . . . . . . . . 19
Appendix B. Optional Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
B.1. Dynamic Address Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
B.2. NAT Traversal and Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
B.3. Tunnel Endpoint Discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Graveman, et al. Informational [Page 2]
RFC 4891 IPsec with IPv6-in-IPv4 Tunnels May 2007
1. Introduction
The IPv6 Operations (v6ops) working group has selected (manually
configured) IPv6-in-IPv4 tunneling [RFC4213] as one of the IPv6
transition mechanisms for IPv6 deployment.
[RFC4213] identified a number of threats that had not been adequately
analyzed or addressed in its predecessor [RFC2893]. The most
complete solution is to use IPsec to protect IPv6-in-IPv4 tunneling.
The document was intentionally not expanded to include the details on
how to set up an IPsec-protected tunnel in an interoperable manner,
but instead the details were deferred to this memo.
The first four sections of this document analyze the threats and
scenarios that can be addressed by IPsec and assumptions made by this
document for successful IPsec Security Association (SA)
establishment. Section 5 gives the details of Internet Key Exchange
(IKE) and IP security (IPsec) exchange with packet formats and
Security Policy Database (SPD) entries. Section 6 gives
recommendations. Appendices further discuss tunnel mode usage and
optional extensions.
This document does not address the use of IPsec for tunnels that are
not manually configured (e.g., 6to4 tunnels [RFC3056]). Presumably,
some form of opportunistic encryption or "better-than-nothing