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rfc:rfc3882

Network Working Group D. Turk Request for Comments: 3882 Bell Canada Category: Informational September 2004

         Configuring BGP to Block Denial-of-Service Attacks

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 Internet Society (2004).

Abstract

 This document describes an operational technique that uses BGP
 communities to remotely trigger black-holing of a particular
 destination network to block denial-of-service attacks.  Black-holing
 can be applied on a selection of routers rather than all BGP-speaking
 routers in the network.  The document also describes a sinkhole
 tunnel technique using BGP communities and tunnels to pull traffic
 into a sinkhole router for analysis.

Table of Contents

 1.  Existing BGP-Triggered Black holing Techniques . . . . . . . .  2
 2.  Enhanced BGP-Triggered Black holing Technique. . . . . . . . .  3
 3.  Sinkhole Tunnels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
 4.  Security Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
 5.  Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
 6.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
 7.  Author's Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
 8.  Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8

Turk Informational [Page 1] RFC 3882 Configuring BGP to Block DoS Attacks September 2004

1. Existing BGP-Triggered Black-holing Techniques

 Current BGP-triggered black-holing techniques rely on altering the
 BGP next hop address of a network targeted by an attack throughout
 the iBGP network.  A customized iBGP advertisement is generated from
 a router participating in the destination/attacked AS where the next
 hop address for the targeted network or host is modified to point to
 an RFC 1918 [RFC1918] (private internet) address.  Most routers on
 the Internet, especially edge routers, have static routes pointing
 RFC 1918 addresses to the null interface.  Those static routes drive
 all traffic destined to the network under attack to the null
 interface.
 When an iBGP-speaking router inside the destination AS receives the
 iBGP update, the advertised prefix will be added to the routing table
 with a next hop of one of the networks listed in RFC 1918.  The
 router will then attempt to resolve the RFC 1918 next-hop in order to
 qualify the route and derive a forwarding interface.  This process
 will return a valid next hop as the null interface.  Assuming the
 router is properly configured to direct RFC 1918 destined traffic to
 a null interface, traffic destined to the attacked network gets
 dropped, making the attacked network unreachable to the attacker and
 everyone else.
 While this technique shields the internal infrastructure from the
 attack, protecting a large number of devices, it has the undesirable
 side effect of rendering the targeted/attacked network unreachable
 throughout the entire destination AS.  Even if a static route
 pointing an RFC 1918 address to a null interface is not configured on
 all routers within the destination AS, the modified next hop makes
 the traffic un-routable to its legitimate destination.
 Network operators usually use the BGP-triggered black holes for a
 short period of time.  The technique causes traffic drops on all
 ingress points of the AS for traffic destined to the attacked
 network.  By default, routers dropping traffic into a null interface
 should send an "ICMP unreachable" message to the source address
 belonging to the origin/attacking AS.
 Once the procedure reaches this point, one of the source addresses of
 the attack traffic is hijacked by introducing a device with the same
 source IP address into the BGP domain of the destination/attacked AS.
 The device hijacking the source address collects the ICMP unreachable
 packets.  The source addresses of these ICMP unreachable packets
 reveal which edge routers within the destination/attacked AS the
 attack is coming from.  The network operator may then opt to manually
 stop the traffic on the routers from which attack traffic is
 entering.

Turk Informational [Page 2] RFC 3882 Configuring BGP to Block DoS Attacks September 2004

2. Enhanced BGP-Triggered Black-holing Technique

 This paper describes a technique developed to instruct a selected set
 of routers to alter the next hop address of a particular prefix by
 use of the BGP protocol.  The next hop can either be a null interface
 or, as discussed later on in this paper, a sinkhole tunnel interface.
 This technique does not invoke an access list or rate limiting
 statement to treat attack traffic, nor does it involve a network wide
 change of the attacked prefix next hop address.  The next hop will
 only be changed on a selection of routers with the aid of BGP
 communities within the destination/attacked AS.
 To prepare the network for this technique, the network operator needs
 to define a unique community value for each destination AS border
 router that could potentially drive attack traffic to the victim.
 For example, a network with a BGP autonomous system number 65001 has
 two border routers (R1 and R2).  Community value 65001:1 is assigned
 to identify R1, community value 65001:2 is assigned to identify R2,
 and community value 65001:666 is assigned to identify both R1 and R2.
 After the BGP community assignment, R1 and R2 must be configured with
 the following:
 1. Static route pointing an RFC 1918 network to a null interface.
 2. AS-Path access list that matches local BGP prefix advertisement.
 3. BGP community access list to match the community value assigned by
    the network operator for the particular router (i.e., 65001:1 for
    R1).
 4. BGP community access list to match the community value assigned by
    the network operator for all routers (i.e., 65001:666 for R1 and
    R2)
 5. Under the BGP process, an iBGP import route policy should be
    applied on received iBGP advertisements to do the following logic.
    (Statements are in a logical AND order)
    a. A policy statement to permit routes that match the following
       criteria and apply the following changes.
       i.   Match for a community specific to that router (i.e.,
            65001:1, for R1).
       ii.  Match the AS-Path to locally generated BGP advertisements.
       iii. Set the BGP next hop to an RFC 1918 network.

Turk Informational [Page 3] RFC 3882 Configuring BGP to Block DoS Attacks September 2004

       iv.  Overwrite the BGP community with the well-known community
            (no-advertise).
    b. A policy statement to permit routes that match the following
       criteria and apply the following changes.
       i.   Match for a community that covers all routers (i.e.,
            65001:666).
       ii.  Match the AS-Path to locally generated BGP advertisements.
       iii. Set the BGP next hop to an RFC 1918 network.
       iv.  Overwrite the BGP community with the well-known community
            (no-advertise).
 After the policies have been configured on R1 and R2, the network
 operator can, in the case of an attack, advertise the targeted
 network that could be one or more /32 "host" routes into iBGP of the
 destination/attacked AS.  The advertisement must contain the
 community value associated with the router(s) where the attack is
 arriving in addition to the well-known community (no-export).  Using
 BGP communities preserves the original next hop address of the
 targeted network on all routers where the special route policy
 configuration is not present.  iBGP will then carry the prefix
 advertisement to all routers in the destination/attacked AS.  All
 routers within the destination AS, except the ones that match the
 community stamped on the prefix, will be oblivious to the community
 value and will install the network route with the legitimate next hop
 address.  Routers that match the community will also install the
 network route into their routing table but will alter the next hop
 address to an RFC 1918 network and then to a null interface as per
 the route policies configuration and recursive route lookup.  The
 reason for matching locally announced networks is to make sure that
 no eBGP peer can misuse this community to drive any network to a null
 interface.  Blackholing the targeted/attacked hosts is recommended,
 but not the entire address block they belong to so that the blackhole
 effect has the minimum impact on the attacked network.
 This technique stops traffic from getting forwarded to the legitimate
 destination on routers identified as transit routers for attack
 traffic and that have route map matches for the community value
 associated with the network advertisement.  All other traffic on the
 network will still get forwarded to the legitimate destination thus
 minimizing the impact on the targeted network.

Turk Informational [Page 4] RFC 3882 Configuring BGP to Block DoS Attacks September 2004

3. Sinkhole Tunnels

 Following the "Enhanced BGP-Triggered Black-holing Technique", it may
 become a requirement to take a look at the attack traffic for further
 analysis.  This requirement adds to the complexity of the exercise.
 Usually with broadcast interfaces, network operators install network
 sniffers on a spanned port of a switch for analysis of traffic.
 Another method would be to announce a network prefix that covers the
 attack host address into iBGP, altering the next hop into a sinkhole
 device that can log traffic for analysis.  The latter technique
 results in taking down the services offered on the targeted/attacked
 IP addresses.  Inter-AS traffic will be sucked into the sinkhole,
 along with Intra-AS traffic.  Packet level analysis involves
 redirecting traffic away from the destination host to a sniffer or a
 router.  As a result, if the traffic being examined includes
 legitimate traffic, that legitimate traffic will never make it to the
 destination host.  This will result in denial of service for the
 legitimate traffic.
 A better alternative would be to use a sinkhole tunnel.  A sinkhole
 tunnel is implemented at all possible entry points from which attacks
 can pass into the destination/attacked AS.  Using the BGP community
 technique, traffic destined to the attacked/targeted host could be
 re-routed to a special path (tunnel) where a sniffer could capture
 the traffic for analysis.  After being analyzed, traffic will exit
 the tunnel and be routed normally to the destination host.  In other
 words, the traffic will pass through the network to a sniffer without
 altering the next hop information of the destination network.  All
 routers within the destination/attacked AS iBGP domain will have the
 proper next hop address.  Only the entry point router will have the
 altered next hop information.
 To detail the procedure, a sinkhole router with an optional sniffer
 attached to its interface is installed and configured to participate
 in the IGP and iBGP of the attacked AS.  Next, a tunnel is created,
 using MPLS Traffic Engineering as an example, from all border routers
 attacks can potentially enter from (Inter-AS traffic) to the sinkhole
 router.  When a host or network is under attack, a customized iBGP
 advertisement is sent to announce the network address of the attacked
 host(s) with the proper next hop that insures traffic will reach
 those hosts or networks.  The customized advertisement will also have
 a community string value that matches the set of border routers the
 attack is entering from, as described in section 2.  The new next hop
 address configured within the route policy section of all border
 routers should be the sinkhole IP address.  This IP address belongs
 to the /30 subnet assigned to the tunnel connecting the border router
 to the sinkhole router.

Turk Informational [Page 5] RFC 3882 Configuring BGP to Block DoS Attacks September 2004

 Routers that do not have a match for the community string will do
 regular routing.  Lack of a community string match on these routers
 will insure that the special route policy does not change the next
 hop address.  Traffic entering from border routers that do not have a
 match to the special community will pass through regular router
 interfaces to the legitimate destination.  It might also be required
 to allow the traffic to reach its destination after being captured.
 In this case, a default network route is configured to point to any
 interface attached and configured on the iBGP network.  This would
 also include the same physical interface the tunnel is built on.
 Since the next hop address is not changed on the sinkhole device,
 traffic entering this device from the tunnel will be sent back to the
 network due to the presence of the default route.  Routing protocols
 will then take care of properly routing the traffic to its original
 destination (attacked network).
 It becomes apparent that this technique can also be used for purposes
 other than analyzing attack traffic.  Legitimate traffic could also
 be pulled out of normal routing into a tunnel and then reinserted
 into the backbone without altering the next hop addressing scheme
 throughout the iBGP network.
 MPLS Traffic Engineering with its many features, is a good method of
 sliding traffic to the sinkhole device.  Features like QoS policies
 can be applied on the attack traffic, thus preventing it from
 competing on resources with legitimate traffic.
 To be able to alter the next hop on the border router, a subnet of an
 RFC 1918 network is statically routed to the tunnel interface.  An
 example of the static route is:
    ip route 192.168.0.12 255.255.255.255 Tunnel0
 Setting the next hop of the target IP address to 192.168.0.12/32 will
 force the traffic to go through the tunnel.
 Traffic is received at the sinkhole interface via the TE tunnel.
 Subsequently, three methods could be installed, namely rate-limiting
 policies, QoS policies, and access lists.  These policies could rate
 limit or drop traffic classified as attack traffic.  This process
 would be completed on the interface of the sinkhole device.  Another
 useful application for a sinkhole router is to pull in traffic via
 tunnels to an inbound interface and have a default route statement
 forwarding the traffic out to an Ethernet interface.  The Ethernet
 interface is connected to the iBGP network and guarantees proper
 delivery of traffic however, it still allows the use of a packet
 sniffer to further analyze the attack traffic.

Turk Informational [Page 6] RFC 3882 Configuring BGP to Block DoS Attacks September 2004

 This becomes very useful when it is not feasible to apply an Access
 list or a rate limiting statement on the BGP border router or last
 hop router before the attacked host or network because of hardware or
 software limitations.  Hence, instead of upgrading interfaces at the
 point of entry of attack traffic, the latter could be pulled into the
 sinkhole and treated on that device.  Operational costs can be
 rendered minimal if the sinkhole router is a powerful device.

4. Security Considerations

 It is very important to practice tight control over eBGP peering
 points before implementing the techniques described in this paper.
 eBGP customers might be able to blackhole a particular subnet using
 the Blackhole communities.  To eliminate the risk, the match for
 locally generated BGP advertisements in the special route policy
 should not be neglected.

5. Acknowledgments

 The author of this document would like to acknowledge the developers
 of the remotely triggered black-holing technique and the developers
 of the backscatter technique for collecting backscatter traffic.  The
 author would also like to thank all members of the IP Engineering
 department for their help in verifying the functionality of this
 technique.

6. Informative References

 [RFC1918] Rekhter, Y., Moskowitz, B., Karrenberg, D., de Groot, G.,
           and E. Lear, "Address Allocation for Private Internets",
           BCP 5, RFC 1918, February 1996.

7. Author's Addresses

 Doughan Turk
 Bell Canada
 100 Wynford Drive
 EMail: doughan.turk@bell.ca

Turk Informational [Page 7] RFC 3882 Configuring BGP to Block DoS Attacks September 2004

8. Full Copyright Statement

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).
 This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions
 contained in BCP 78 and at www.rfc-editor.org, and except as set
 forth therein, the authors retain all their rights.
 This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
 "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/S HE
 REPRESENTS OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE
 INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR
 IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF
 THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
 WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

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 Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
 pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
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 might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
 made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  Information
 on the ISOC's procedures with respect to rights in ISOC Documents can
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 The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
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Acknowledgement

 Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
 Internet Society.

Turk Informational [Page 8]

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