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Security Considerations for SRv6 Networks
draft-li-spring-srv6-security-consideration-01

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This is an older version of an Internet-Draft whose latest revision state is "Expired".
Authors Cheng Li , Zhenbin Li
Last updated 2019-07-08 (Latest revision 2019-06-11)
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draft-li-spring-srv6-security-consideration-01
Spring                                                             C. Li
Internet-Draft                                                     Z. Li
Intended status: Informational                                    Huawei
Expires: January 9, 2020                                    July 8, 2019

               Security Considerations for SRv6 Networks
             draft-li-spring-srv6-security-consideration-01

Abstract

   SRv6 inherits potential security vulnerabilities from Source Routing
   in general, and also from IPv6.  This document describes various
   threats and security concerns related to SRv6 networks and existing
   approaches to solve these threats.

Status of This Memo

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

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   This Internet-Draft will expire on January 9, 2020.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2019 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
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   described in the Simplified BSD License.

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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Security Principles of SRv6 Networking  . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   4.  Types of Vulnerabilities in SR Networks . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.1.  Eavesdropping Vulnerabilities in SRv6 Networks  . . . . .   4
     4.2.  Packet Falsification in SRv6 Networks . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.3.  Identity Spoofing in SRv6 Networks  . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.4.  Packet Replay in SRv6 Networks  . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     4.5.  DOS/DDOS in SRv6 Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     4.6.  Malicious Packet Data in SRv6 Networks  . . . . . . . . .   8
   5.  Effects of the above on SRv6 Use Cases  . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   6.  Security Policy Design  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     6.1.  Basic Security Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
       6.1.1.  ACL for External Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
       6.1.2.  ACL for Internal Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
       6.1.3.  SID Instantiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     6.2.  Enhanced Security Design  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   7.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   8.  Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   9.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     9.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     9.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12

1.  Introduction

   Segment routing (SR) [RFC8402] is a source routing paradigm that
   explicitly indicates the forwarding path for packets at the source
   node by inserting an ordered list of instructions, called segments.
   A segment can represent a topological or service-based instruction.

   When segment routing is deployed on IPv6 [RFC8200] dataplane, called
   SRv6 [I-D.ietf-6man-segment-routing-header], a segment is a 128 bit
   value, and can the IPv6 address of a local interface but it does not
   have to.  For supporting SR, a new type of Routing Extension Header
   is defined and called the Segment Routing Header (SRH).  The SRH
   contains a list of SIDs and other information such as Segments Left.
   The SRH is defined in [I-D.ietf-6man-segment-routing-header].  By
   using the SRH, an ingress router can steer SRv6 packets into an
   explicit forwarding path so that many use cases like Traffic
   Engineering, Service Function Chaining can be deployed easily by
   SRv6.

   However, SRv6 also brings some new security concerns.  This document
   describes various threats to networks deploying SRv6.  SRv6 inherits

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   potential security vulnerabilities from source routing in general,
   and also from IPv6.

   o  SRv6 makes use of the SRH which is a new type of Routing Extension
      Header.  Therefore, the security properties of the Routing
      Extension Header are addressed by the SRH.  See [RFC5095]and
      [I-D.ietf-6man-segment-routing-header] for details.

   o  SRv6 consists of using the SRH on the IPv6 dataplane which
      security properties can be understood based on previous work
      [RFC4301], [RFC4302], [RFC4303] and [RFC4942].

   In this document, we will consider the dangers from the following
   kinds of threats:

   o  Wiretapping/eavesdropping

   o  Packet Falsification

   o  Identity Spoofing

   o  Packet Replay

   o  DOS/DDOS

   o  Malicious Packet Data

   The rest of this document describes the above security threats in
   SRv6 networks and existing approaches to mitigate and avoid the
   threats.

2.  Terminology

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in
   [RFC2119] and [RFC8174].

   This document uses the terminology defined in [RFC5095] and
   [I-D.ietf-6man-segment-routing-header].

3.  Security Principles of SRv6 Networking

   As with other similar source-routing architectures, an attacker may
   manipulate the traffic path by modifying the packet header.  SPRING
   architecture [RFC8402] allows clear trust domain boundaries so that
   source-routing information is only usable within the trusted domain
   and never exposed to the outside world.  It is expected that, by

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   default, explicit routing is only used within the boundaries of the
   administered domain.  Therefore, the data plane does not expose any
   source-routing information when a packet leaves the trusted domain.
   Traffic is filtered at the domain boundaries [RFC8402].

   Unless otherwise noted, the discussion in this document pertain to SR
   networks which can be characterized as "trusted domains", i.e., the
   SR routers in the domain are presumed to be operated by the same
   administrative entity without malicious intent and also according to
   specifications of the protocols that they use in the infrastructure.

   This document assumes that the SR-capable routers and transit IPv6
   routers within the SRv6 trusted domains are trustworthy.  Hence,the
   SRv6 packets are treated as normal IPv6 packets in transit nodes and
   the SRH will not bring new security problem.  The security
   considerations of IPv6 networks are out of scope of this document.

4.  Types of Vulnerabilities in SR Networks

   This section outlines in details the different types of
   vulnerabilities listed in Section 1.  Then, for each type, an attempt
   to determine whether or not the vulnerability exists in a trusted
   domain is made.

4.1.  Eavesdropping Vulnerabilities in SRv6 Networks

   As with practically all kinds of networks, traffic in an SRv6 network
   may be vulnerable to eavesdropping.

   o  Threats: Eavesdropping

   o  Solutions: Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP, [RFC4303]) can be
      used in order to prevent Eavesdropping.  The ESP header is either
      inserted between the IP header and the next layer(transport)
      protocol header, or before an encapsulated IP header (tunnel
      mode).  ESP can be used in order to provide confidentiality, data
      origin authentication, connectionless integrity, an anti-replay
      service (a form of partial sequence integrity), and (limited)
      traffic flow confidentiality.  The set of services provided
      depends on the selected options at the time of the Security
      Association (SA) establishment and on the location of the
      implementation in a network topology.(add reference to the
      different points explained in this paragraph).

   o  Conclusion: In tunnel mode of ESP, packets are encrypted and can
      not be eavesdropped in a trusted SRv6 domain.  In transport mode
      of ESP, the payload of packets are encrypted and cannot be

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      eavesdropped in a trusted SRv6 domain, even if the IPv6 and SRH
      headers are not encrypted.

   o  Gaps: The IPv6 and SRH headers are not encrypted in transport mode
      of ESP which may be eavesdropped by attackers.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |IPv6 Header| SRH | ESP|     Payload       |ESP Tail| ESP Auth data|
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
                          |----- Encryption Scope -----|
                     |------ Authentication Scope -----|

               Figure 1: Transport Mode ESP for SRv6 packets

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|New IPv6 Header|SRH|ESP|IPv6 Header|SRH|Payload|ESP Tail|ESP Auth data|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
                        |------ Encryption Scope --------|
                    |------- Authentication Scope -------|

                Figure 2: Tunnel Mode ESP for SRv6 packets

4.2.  Packet Falsification in SRv6 Networks

   As SRv6 domain is a trusted domain, there is no Packet Falsification
   within the SRv6 domain.

   As the packets from outside of SRv6 domain cannot be trusted, an
   Integrity Verification policy is typically deployed at the external
   interfaces of the ingress SRv6 routers in order to verify the
   incoming packets (i.e., from outside of SRv6 domain
   [I-D.ietf-spring-srv6-network-programming]).  Also, the packets with
   SRH sent form hosts within the SRv6 domain should be verified in
   order to prevent the falsification between the host and the ingress
   router.  [I-D.ietf-spring-srv6-network-programming].

   o  Threats: Packet Falsification

   o  Solutions: The packets from outside can not be trusted, so
      Integrity Verification policy should be deployed at the external
      interfaces by using , e.g., IPSec [RFC4301] (AH [RFC4302], ESP
      [RFC4303] ) or HMAC [RFC2401].  AH [RFC4302], ESP [RFC4303] and
      HMAC [RFC2401] can provide Integrity Verification for packets,
      while the ESP can encrypt the payload in order to provide higher
      security.  However, it has been noted that the AH and ESP are not
      directly applicable in order to reduce the vulnerabilities of SRv6

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      due to the presence of mutable fields in the SRH.  In order to
      solve this problem, [I-D.ietf-6man-segment-routing-header] defines
      a mechanism in order to carry HMAC TLV in the SRH so to verify the
      integrity of packets including the SRH fields.  The HMAC TLV is
      usually processed based on the local policy, only at the ingress
      router.  Within the SRv6 domain, the packets are trusted, so HMAC
      TLV is typically ignored.  In other words, the segment list is
      mutable within the SRv6 domain but cannot be changed before
      processing the HMAC TLV.

   o  Conclusions: There is no Packet Falsification within a trusted
      SRv6 domain.  Integrity Verification policy like HMAC processing
      should be deployed at the external interfaces of the ingress SRv6
      routers filtering SRH packets from outside the trusted domain and
      SRH packets from hosts within the SRv6 domain.

   o  Gaps: IPsec cannot provide verification for SRH.

   +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
   |IPv6 Header   | SRH | AH|     Payload                            |
   +-----------------------------------------------------------------+

   |--Auth Scope--|HMAC |---------------Auth Scope-------------------|

           Figure 3: Transport Mode AH and HMAC for SRv6 packets

   +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
   |New IPv6 Header|SRH | AH |IPv6 Header|SRH|Payload                |
   +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
   |--Auth Scope---|HMAC|---------------Auth Scope-------------------|

            Figure 4: Tunnel Mode AH and HMAC for SRv6 packets

4.3.  Identity Spoofing in SRv6 Networks

   The same as for Packet Falsification, there is no Identity Spoofing
   possible within the boundaries of a SRv6 trusted domain where all
   nodes are under control of the same administrative organization.

   Authentication policy should be deployed at the external interfaces
   of the ingress SRv6 routers in order to validate the packets from
   outside of SRv6 domain [I-D.ietf-spring-srv6-network-programming].
   Also, the packets with SRH sent form hosts inside the SRv6 domain
   should be validated in order to prevent the Identity Spoofing
   [I-D.ietf-spring-srv6-network-programming].

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   o  Threats: Identity Spoofing

   o  Solutions: IPSec [RFC4301] (AH [RFC4302], ESP [RFC4303] ) or HMAC
      [RFC2401] can be used for Authentication.  AH, ESP and HMAC can
      provide Authentication of source node, while the ESP can encrypt
      the payload in order to provide higher security.  Same as section
      3.2.

   o  Conclusion: There is no Identity Spoofing within a trusted SRv6
      domain.  Identity Spoofing policy should be deployed on the
      external interfaces of the ingress SRv6 routers for the packets
      from outside and the packets with SRH from hosts within the SRv6
      domain.

   o  Gaps: TBA

4.4.  Packet Replay in SRv6 Networks

   There are no new Packet Replay threat brought by SRH.  ESP can be
   applied to SRv6 in order to prevent Packet replay attacks.

   o  Threats: Packet Replay

   o  Solutions: ESP [RFC4303] ) can be used to prevent Replay Attacks.

   o  Conclusion: There are no new Packet Replay threat brought by SRH.
      ESP can be applied to SRv6 in order to prevent Packet replay
      attacks.

   o  Gaps: TBD

4.5.  DOS/DDOS in SRv6 Networks

   The generation of ICMPv6 error messages may be used in order to
   attempt DOS(Denial-Of-Service)/DDOS(Distributed Denial-Of-Service)
   attacks by sending an error-causing destination address or SRH in
   back-to-back packets [I-D.ietf-6man-segment-routing-header].  An
   implementation that correctly follows Section 2.4 of [RFC4443] would
   be protected by the ICMPv6 rate-limiting mechanism also in the case
   of packets with an SRH.

   o  Threats: DOS/DDOS

   o  Solutions: ICMPv6 rate-limiting mechanism as defined in [RFC4443]

   o  Conclusions: There are no DOS/DDOS threats within SRv6 domain, the
      threats come from outside of the domain, and can be prevented by
      ICMPv6 rate-limiting mechanism.

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   o  Gaps: TBD

4.6.  Malicious Packet Data in SRv6 Networks

   TBA

5.  Effects of the above on SRv6 Use Cases

   This section describes the effects of the above-mentioned
   vulnerabilities in terms of applicability statement and the use cases
   given in citation.

   TBA.

6.  Security Policy Design

   The basic security for intra-domain deployment is described in
   [I-D.ietf-spring-srv6-network-programming] and the enhanced security
   mechanism is defined in [I-D.ietf-6man-segment-routing-header].

   In [I-D.ietf-spring-srv6-network-programming], additional basic
   security mechanisms are defined.  For easier understanding, a easy
   example is shown in Figure 5.

           ***************************              *****
           *             (3) h2      *              *   * SRv6 domain
           *               \ |       *              *****
    h1-----A-----B-----C-----D-------E-------F
         / *    (2)    (2)  (2)      * \
   (1,2,3) *                         *  (1,2)
           *                         *
           ***************************

                   Figure 5: SRv6 Security Policy Design

   o  A-E: SRv6 Routers inside the SRv6 domain, A and E are the edge
      router, can be called Ingress router instead.

   o  F: Router F outside the SRv6 domain.

   o  h1: A host outside the SRv6 domain connects to router Router A.

   o  h2: A host within SRv6 domain, which connects to the Router D.

   o  (1): Security policy 1: ACL for External Interface.

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   o  (2): Security policy 2: ACL for Internal Interfaces.

   o  (3): Security policy 3: Policy for processing HMAC, should be
      deployed at the ingress nodes.

6.1.  Basic Security Design

6.1.1.  ACL for External Interfaces

   Typically, in any trusted domain, ingress routers are configured with
   Access Control Lists (ACL) filtering out any packet externally
   received with SA/DA having a domain internal address.  An SRv6 router
   typically comply with the same rule.

   A provider would generally do this for its internal address space in
   order to prevent access to internal addresses and in order to prevent
   spoofing.  The technique is extended to the local SID space.
   However, in some use cases, Binding SID can be leaked outside of SRv6
   domain.  Detailed ACL should be then configured in order to consider
   the externally advertised Binding SID.

6.1.2.  ACL for Internal Interfaces

   An SRv6 router MUST support an ACL with the following behavior:

   1. IF (DA == LocalSID) && (SA != internal address or SID space) :
   2.    drop

   This prevents access to locally instantiated SIDs from outside the
   operator's infrastructure.  Note that this ACL may not be enabled in
   all cases.  For example, specific SIDs can be used to provide
   resources to devices that are outside of the operator's
   infrastructure.

6.1.3.  SID Instantiation

   As per the End definition [I-D.ietf-spring-srv6-network-programming],
   an SRv6 router MUST only implement the End behavior on a local IPv6
   address if that address has been explicitly enabled as an SRv6 SID.

   Packets received with destination address representing a local
   interface that has not been enabled as an SRv6 SID MUST be dropped.

6.2.  Enhanced Security Design

   HMAC [RFC2401] is the enhanced security mechanism for SRv6 as defined
   in [I-D.ietf-6man-segment-routing-header].  HMAC is used for
   validating the packets with SRH sent from hosts within SRv6 domain.

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   Since the SRH is mutable in computing the Integrity Check Value (ICV)
   of AH [I-D.ietf-6man-segment-routing-header], so AH can not be
   directly applicable to SRv6 packets.  HMAC TLV in SRH is used for
   making sure that the SRH fields like SIDs are not changed along the
   path.  While the intra SRv6 domain is trustworthy, so HMAC will be
   processed at the ingress nodes only, and could be ignore at the other
   nodes inside the trusted domain.

7.  Security Considerations

   TBA

8.  Acknowledgements

   Manty thanks to Charles Perkins and Stefano Previdi's valuable
   comments.

9.  References

9.1.  Normative References

   [I-D.ietf-6man-segment-routing-header]
              Filsfils, C., Dukes, D., Previdi, S., Leddy, J.,
              Matsushima, S., and d. daniel.voyer@bell.ca, "IPv6 Segment
              Routing Header (SRH)", draft-ietf-6man-segment-routing-
              header-21 (work in progress), June 2019.

   [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>.

   [RFC5095]  Abley, J., Savola, P., and G. Neville-Neil, "Deprecation
              of Type 0 Routing Headers in IPv6", RFC 5095,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC5095, December 2007,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5095>.

   [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>.

   [RFC8200]  Deering, S. and R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol, Version 6
              (IPv6) Specification", STD 86, RFC 8200,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8200, July 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8200>.

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   [RFC8402]  Filsfils, C., Ed., Previdi, S., Ed., Ginsberg, L.,
              Decraene, B., Litkowski, S., and R. Shakir, "Segment
              Routing Architecture", RFC 8402, DOI 10.17487/RFC8402,
              July 2018, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8402>.

9.2.  Informative References

   [I-D.ietf-spring-segment-routing-policy]
              Filsfils, C., Sivabalan, S., daniel.voyer@bell.ca, d.,
              bogdanov@google.com, b., and P. Mattes, "Segment Routing
              Policy Architecture", draft-ietf-spring-segment-routing-
              policy-03 (work in progress), May 2019.

   [I-D.ietf-spring-srv6-network-programming]
              Filsfils, C., Camarillo, P., Leddy, J.,
              daniel.voyer@bell.ca, d., Matsushima, S., and Z. Li, "SRv6
              Network Programming", draft-ietf-spring-srv6-network-
              programming-01 (work in progress), July 2019.

   [RFC2401]  Kent, S. and R. Atkinson, "Security Architecture for the
              Internet Protocol", RFC 2401, DOI 10.17487/RFC2401,
              November 1998, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2401>.

   [RFC4301]  Kent, S. and K. Seo, "Security Architecture for the
              Internet Protocol", RFC 4301, DOI 10.17487/RFC4301,
              December 2005, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4301>.

   [RFC4302]  Kent, S., "IP Authentication Header", RFC 4302,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4302, December 2005,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4302>.

   [RFC4303]  Kent, S., "IP Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP)",
              RFC 4303, DOI 10.17487/RFC4303, December 2005,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4303>.

   [RFC4443]  Conta, A., Deering, S., and M. Gupta, Ed., "Internet
              Control Message Protocol (ICMPv6) for the Internet
              Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) Specification", STD 89,
              RFC 4443, DOI 10.17487/RFC4443, March 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4443>.

   [RFC4942]  Davies, E., Krishnan, S., and P. Savola, "IPv6 Transition/
              Co-existence Security Considerations", RFC 4942,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4942, September 2007,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4942>.

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   [RFC7855]  Previdi, S., Ed., Filsfils, C., Ed., Decraene, B.,
              Litkowski, S., Horneffer, M., and R. Shakir, "Source
              Packet Routing in Networking (SPRING) Problem Statement
              and Requirements", RFC 7855, DOI 10.17487/RFC7855, May
              2016, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7855>.

Authors' Addresses

   Cheng Li
   Huawei
   China

   Email: ChengLi13@huawei.com

   Zhenbin Li
   Huawei
   China

   Email: lizhenbin@huawei.com

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