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BGP Flowspec Capability Bits
draft-haas-flowspec-capability-bits-00

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This is an older version of an Internet-Draft whose latest revision state is "Expired".
Author Jeffrey Haas
Last updated 2021-02-21
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draft-haas-flowspec-capability-bits-00
Inter-Domain Routing                                             J. Haas
Internet-Draft                                          Juniper Networks
Intended status: Standards Track                       February 22, 2021
Expires: August 26, 2021

                      BGP Flowspec Capability Bits
                 draft-haas-flowspec-capability-bits-00

Abstract

   BGP Flowspec (RFC 5575) provides the ability to filter traffic using
   various matching components.  The NLRI format currently defined does
   not permit incremental deployment of new BGP Flowspec components.
   This draft defines a new BGP Capability to permit incremental
   deployment of such new Flowspec component types.

Requirements Language

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14 [RFC2119]
   [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown
   here.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on August 26, 2021.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2021 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

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   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  BGP Flowspec Capability Bits  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4.  Restricting BGP Flowspec Components in a Deployment . . . . .   5
   5.  BGP Flowspec Implications for Filtered NLRI . . . . . . . . .   5
   6.  Error Handling  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   7.  Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   8.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   9.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   10. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     10.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     10.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     10.3.  URIs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   Appendix A.  Encoding of the Bit-String . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8

1.  Introduction

   BGP Flowspec [RFC5575] provides a mechanism to distribute traffic
   flow spcifications into BGP.  One general purpose of these flow
   specifications is for the distribution of firewall rules to receiving
   routers, particularly for mitigating distributed denial of service
   (DDoS) attacks.  The flow specification rules are encoded as BGP NLRI
   [RFC4271].

   The matching components of a flow specification NLRI is a serialized
   set of optional components.  The components are documented in
   [RFC5575], Section 4.  [I-D.ietf-idr-flow-spec-v6] defines
   IPv6-specific components.  The full set of Flowspec component types
   is maintained in an IANA registry located at the IANA Flow Spec
   Component Types registry [1].

   Work is currently ongoing to address deficiencies in [RFC5575] in
   [I-D.ietf-idr-rfc5575bis].  In particular, unknown component types
   require treatment as a malformed NLRI ([I-D.ietf-idr-rfc5575bis],
   Section 4.1).  This is due to the lack of a mandatory length element

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   for the components in the NLRI.  Without such a length, it is not
   possible to determine how to properly decode unknown components in
   the Flowspec NLRI.

   There has been active interest in the IDR Working Group to extend BGP
   Flowspec for additional purposes.  However, with this difficulty in
   being able to handle unknown components, those new features unabled
   to be deployed in an BGP Flowspec domain in an incremental fashion.
   Either a carefully managed "flag day" deployment is required to avoid
   disrupting existing sessions, or the Flowspec domain is carefully
   managed such that devices with incompatible sets of known/unknown
   components are carefully separated in a "ships in the night"
   scenario.  Both options are fragile and operationally cumbersome.

   Some initial discussion has begun for a version 2 of Flowspec in
   [I-D.hares-idr-flowspec-v2].  That document may eventually address
   this incremental deployment issue, along with a number of other
   items.

   This document proposes to address the issues of incremental
   deployment of new BGP Flowspec component types via a new BGP
   Capability [RFC5492], the BGP Flowpec Capability Bits.  In addition
   to addressing the issue of new BGP Flowspec component types for new
   features, this capability also provides a mechanism to manage desired
   subsets of Flowspec capabilities in a deployment.

2.  BGP Flowspec Capability Bits

   BGP Flowspec component types are one octet in length with values in
   the range from 0..255.  The BGP Flowspec Capability Bits encode a
   bit-string where each supported component type has its respective bit
   set when the BGP Speaker is willing to receive BGP Flowspec NLRI that
   contain that component type.

   The BGP Flowspec Capability Bits Capability is encoded as follows:

   o  Capability Code of (TBD).

   o  Capability Length of 1..32.

   o  Capability Value contains a bit-string where a bit is set if the
      underlying BGP Flowspec component is willing to be accepted by BGP
      Speaker advertising this capability.

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               Example encoding for Capability Value:

                 0                   1
                 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
                +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                |0|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|0|0|
                +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      Bit 0 set to 0, bits 1..14 set to 1 showing support for all
      capabilities for IPv6 Flowspec, bits 15..16 set to 0.

3.  Operation

   BGP Flowspec Capability Bits not advertised in the encoded bit-string
   are treated as if they were sent with a value of zero for that bit.

   The Capability Length reflects the number of octets it takes to
   encode the BGP Flowspec Capability Bits.  While the total number of
   octets required to represent the entire range of component types is
   only 32 octets, implementations SHOULD limit the number of octets
   transmitted to those required to encode the final one-bit.  Space in
   BGP Capabilities may be limited in some implementations depending on
   the number of capabilities to be sent.  (See
   [I-D.ietf-idr-ext-opt-param] for discussion on a feature to address
   this point.)

   Bit-value 0 and 255 SHOULD be set to zero as they are RESERVED.

   The BGP Flowspec Capability Bits Capability SHOULD be sent by a BGP
   Speaker utilizing any AFI/SAFI using BGP Flowspec encoding as defined
   in [RFC5575], [I-D.ietf-idr-rfc5575bis] or
   [I-D.ietf-idr-flow-spec-v6].

   The BGP Flowspec Capability Bits Capability MUST be sent by a BGP
   Speaker utilizing BGP Flowspec encoding with a component type not
   defined in those documents previously mentioned.  (I.e. component
   types 15..254.)

   A BGP Speaker that has received the BGP Flowspec Capability Bits
   Capability MUST NOT transmit a BGP Flowspec encoded NLRI that
   contains a component types that is not present in the received bit-
   string.  The bit-string indicates not only willingness to implement
   the functionality for that component, but also the ability to process
   NLRI containing that component type.

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4.  Restricting BGP Flowspec Components in a Deployment

   The filtering components specified in [RFC5575] are well supported in
   implementations of the RFC.  However, as new platforms work to
   support not only this existing RFC, but future features,
   implementations may be unwilling or unable to support the packet
   forwarding behaviors for a given component type.  The Flowspec
   Capability Bits provides the ability for an implementation to limit
   what forms of filtering are executed by the BGP Speaker.

5.  BGP Flowspec Implications for Filtered NLRI

   BGP Flowspec NLRI encode match operations for traffic filtering
   rules.  Filtering is an ordered operation.  Since the current
   encoding of the NLRI does not supply explicit filtering order, the
   protocol imposes a forwarding order based on the contents of the
   NLRI.

   When a BGP Flowspec NLRI is not propagated due to filtering by this
   feature, or by user policy, there is the potential that the network-
   wide filtering intent may be compromised by the missing rules.  The
   exact impact of this filtering will depend on the relative
   independence of the full set of BGP Flowspec routes in the BGP
   Flowspec routing domain.

   Operators must exercise care when deploying BGP Flowspec features
   with new component types to understand the propagation of such routes
   in their deployment, and the impact that filtering may have on the
   routes they wish to originate.

6.  Error Handling

   If a BGP Speaker implementing this document has transmitted BGP
   Flowspec Capability Bits to its peer and receives a BGP Flowspec NLRI
   with an unacceptable component (not in its bit-string), it MAY
   terminate the BGP session by sending a NOTIFICATION message.

   The intent of this feature is two-fold: The receiving BGP Speaker may
   not understand how to decode the unknown component and may simply
   terminate the session per [I-D.ietf-idr-rfc5575bis], Section 4.1.
   The received BGP Speaker may understand how to decode the component
   in question, but may be unable or unwilling to implement the packet
   forwarding behavior implemented by that component.

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7.  Acknowledgements

   TBD.

8.  Security Considerations

   All of the Security Considerations for [I-D.ietf-idr-rfc5575bis] and
   [I-D.ietf-idr-flow-spec-v6] still apply.

   Additionally, the BGP Flowspec Capability Bits may cause implicit
   filtering of some BGP Flowspec NLRI in a Flowspec domain.  Depending
   on the relative independence of the traffic matched by the BGP
   Flowspec rules in the ordering required by their specifications, such
   filtered NLRI may result in impact to the desired domain-wide
   filtering behaviors.

9.  IANA Considerations

   IANA is requested to assign a new BGP Capability to the Capability
   Codes registry from the First Come, First Served pool.  The Reference
   for the registration is this document.  The Change Controller is
   IETF.

10.  References

10.1.  Normative References

   [I-D.ietf-idr-flow-spec-v6]
              Loibl, C., Raszuk, R., and S. Hares, "Dissemination of
              Flow Specification Rules for IPv6", draft-ietf-idr-flow-
              spec-v6-22 (work in progress), December 2020.

   [I-D.ietf-idr-rfc5575bis]
              Loibl, C., Hares, S., Raszuk, R., McPherson, D., and M.
              Bacher, "Dissemination of Flow Specification Rules",
              draft-ietf-idr-rfc5575bis-27 (work in progress), October
              2020.

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

   [RFC5492]  Scudder, J. and R. Chandra, "Capabilities Advertisement
              with BGP-4", RFC 5492, DOI 10.17487/RFC5492, February
              2009, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5492>.

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   [RFC5575]  Marques, P., Sheth, N., Raszuk, R., Greene, B., Mauch, J.,
              and D. McPherson, "Dissemination of Flow Specification
              Rules", RFC 5575, DOI 10.17487/RFC5575, August 2009,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5575>.

   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
              2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.

10.2.  Informative References

   [I-D.hares-idr-flowspec-v2]
              Hares, S., "BGP Flow Specification Version 2", draft-
              hares-idr-flowspec-v2-00 (work in progress), June 2016.

   [I-D.ietf-idr-ext-opt-param]
              Chen, E. and J. Scudder, "Extended Optional Parameters
              Length for BGP OPEN Message", draft-ietf-idr-ext-opt-
              param-09 (work in progress), August 2020.

   [RFC2578]  McCloghrie, K., Ed., Perkins, D., Ed., and J.
              Schoenwaelder, Ed., "Structure of Management Information
              Version 2 (SMIv2)", STD 58, RFC 2578,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2578, April 1999,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2578>.

   [RFC4271]  Rekhter, Y., Ed., Li, T., Ed., and S. Hares, Ed., "A
              Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4)", RFC 4271,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4271, January 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4271>.

10.3.  URIs

   [1] https://www.iana.org/assignments/flow-spec/flow-spec.xhtml

Appendix A.  Encoding of the Bit-String

   IETF has a mixed history in terms of how bit numbering is described.
   The format as used in this document where the left-most bit sent on
   the wire is bit zero is consistent with IETF PDU diagrams and also
   the SNMP BITS construct [RFC2578], Section 7.1.4.

   That said, the author is aware of how annoying the code for that
   construct can be.

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Author's Address

   Jeffrey Haas
   Juniper Networks

   Email: jhaas@juniper.net

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