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authorThomas Voss <mail@thomasvoss.com> 2024-11-27 20:54:24 +0100
committerThomas Voss <mail@thomasvoss.com> 2024-11-27 20:54:24 +0100
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+Network Working Group S. Bellovin
+Request for Comments: 3514 AT&T Labs Research
+Category: Informational 1 April 2003
+
+
+ The Security Flag in the IPv4 Header
+
+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 (2003). All Rights Reserved.
+
+Abstract
+
+ Firewalls, packet filters, intrusion detection systems, and the like
+ often have difficulty distinguishing between packets that have
+ malicious intent and those that are merely unusual. We define a
+ security flag in the IPv4 header as a means of distinguishing the two
+ cases.
+
+1. Introduction
+
+ Firewalls [CBR03], packet filters, intrusion detection systems, and
+ the like often have difficulty distinguishing between packets that
+ have malicious intent and those that are merely unusual. The problem
+ is that making such determinations is hard. To solve this problem,
+ we define a security flag, known as the "evil" bit, in the IPv4
+ [RFC791] header. Benign packets have this bit set to 0; those that
+ are used for an attack will have the bit set to 1.
+
+1.1. Terminology
+
+ The keywords MUST, MUST NOT, REQUIRED, SHALL, SHALL NOT, SHOULD,
+ SHOULD NOT, RECOMMENDED, MAY, and OPTIONAL, when they appear in this
+ document, are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].
+
+2. Syntax
+
+ The high-order bit of the IP fragment offset field is the only unused
+ bit in the IP header. Accordingly, the selection of the bit position
+ is not left to IANA.
+
+
+
+
+
+Bellovin Informational [Page 1]
+
+RFC 3514 The Security Flag in the IPv4 Header 1 April 2003
+
+
+ The bit field is laid out as follows:
+
+ 0
+ +-+
+ |E|
+ +-+
+
+ Currently-assigned values are defined as follows:
+
+ 0x0 If the bit is set to 0, the packet has no evil intent. Hosts,
+ network elements, etc., SHOULD assume that the packet is
+ harmless, and SHOULD NOT take any defensive measures. (We note
+ that this part of the spec is already implemented by many common
+ desktop operating systems.)
+
+ 0x1 If the bit is set to 1, the packet has evil intent. Secure
+ systems SHOULD try to defend themselves against such packets.
+ Insecure systems MAY chose to crash, be penetrated, etc.
+
+3. Setting the Evil Bit
+
+ There are a number of ways in which the evil bit may be set. Attack
+ applications may use a suitable API to request that it be set.
+ Systems that do not have other mechanisms MUST provide such an API;
+ attack programs MUST use it.
+
+ Multi-level insecure operating systems may have special levels for
+ attack programs; the evil bit MUST be set by default on packets
+ emanating from programs running at such levels. However, the system
+ MAY provide an API to allow it to be cleared for non-malicious
+ activity by users who normally engage in attack behavior.
+
+ Fragments that by themselves are dangerous MUST have the evil bit
+ set. If a packet with the evil bit set is fragmented by an
+ intermediate router and the fragments themselves are not dangerous,
+ the evil bit MUST be cleared in the fragments, and MUST be turned
+ back on in the reassembled packet.
+
+ Intermediate systems are sometimes used to launder attack
+ connections. Packets to such systems that are intended to be relayed
+ to a target SHOULD have the evil bit set.
+
+ Some applications hand-craft their own packets. If these packets are
+ part of an attack, the application MUST set the evil bit by itself.
+
+ In networks protected by firewalls, it is axiomatic that all
+ attackers are on the outside of the firewall. Therefore, hosts
+ inside the firewall MUST NOT set the evil bit on any packets.
+
+
+
+Bellovin Informational [Page 2]
+
+RFC 3514 The Security Flag in the IPv4 Header 1 April 2003
+
+
+ Because NAT [RFC3022] boxes modify packets, they SHOULD set the evil
+ bit on such packets. "Transparent" http and email proxies SHOULD set
+ the evil bit on their reply packets to the innocent client host.
+
+ Some hosts scan other hosts in a fashion that can alert intrusion
+ detection systems. If the scanning is part of a benign research
+ project, the evil bit MUST NOT be set. If the scanning per se is
+ innocent, but the ultimate intent is evil and the destination site
+ has such an intrusion detection system, the evil bit SHOULD be set.
+
+4. Processing of the Evil Bit
+
+ Devices such as firewalls MUST drop all inbound packets that have the
+ evil bit set. Packets with the evil bit off MUST NOT be dropped.
+ Dropped packets SHOULD be noted in the appropriate MIB variable.
+
+ Intrusion detection systems (IDSs) have a harder problem. Because of
+ their known propensity for false negatives and false positives, IDSs
+ MUST apply a probabilistic correction factor when evaluating the evil
+ bit. If the evil bit is set, a suitable random number generator
+ [RFC1750] must be consulted to determine if the attempt should be
+ logged. Similarly, if the bit is off, another random number
+ generator must be consulted to determine if it should be logged
+ despite the setting.
+
+ The default probabilities for these tests depends on the type of IDS.
+ Thus, a signature-based IDS would have a low false positive value but
+ a high false negative value. A suitable administrative interface
+ MUST be provided to permit operators to reset these values.
+
+ Routers that are not intended as as security devices SHOULD NOT
+ examine this bit. This will allow them to pass packets at higher
+ speeds.
+
+ As outlined earlier, host processing of evil packets is operating-
+ system dependent; however, all hosts MUST react appropriately
+ according to their nature.
+
+5. Related Work
+
+ Although this document only defines the IPv4 evil bit, there are
+ complementary mechanisms for other forms of evil. We sketch some of
+ those here.
+
+ For IPv6 [RFC2460], evilness is conveyed by two options. The first,
+ a hop-by-hop option, is used for packets that damage the network,
+ such as DDoS packets. The second, an end-to-end option, is for
+ packets intended to damage destination hosts. In either case, the
+
+
+
+Bellovin Informational [Page 3]
+
+RFC 3514 The Security Flag in the IPv4 Header 1 April 2003
+
+
+ option contains a 128-bit strength indicator, which says how evil the
+ packet is, and a 128-bit type code that describes the particular type
+ of attack intended.
+
+ Some link layers, notably those based on optical switching, may
+ bypass routers (and hence firewalls) entirely. Accordingly, some
+ link-layer scheme MUST be used to denote evil. This may involve evil
+ lambdas, evil polarizations, etc.
+
+ DDoS attack packets are denoted by a special diffserv code point.
+
+ An application/evil MIME type is defined for Web- or email-carried
+ mischief. Other MIME types can be embedded inside of evil sections;
+ this permit easy encoding of word processing documents with macro
+ viruses, etc.
+
+6. IANA Considerations
+
+ This document defines the behavior of security elements for the 0x0
+ and 0x1 values of this bit. Behavior for other values of the bit may
+ be defined only by IETF consensus [RFC2434].
+
+7. Security Considerations
+
+ Correct functioning of security mechanisms depend critically on the
+ evil bit being set properly. If faulty components do not set the
+ evil bit to 1 when appropriate, firewalls will not be able to do
+ their jobs properly. Similarly, if the bit is set to 1 when it
+ shouldn't be, a denial of service condition may occur.
+
+8. References
+
+ [CBR03] W.R. Cheswick, S.M. Bellovin, and A.D. Rubin, "Firewalls
+ and Internet Security: Repelling the Wily Hacker", Second
+ Edition, Addison-Wesley, 2003.
+
+ [RFC791] Postel, J., "Internet Protocol", STD 5, RFC 791, September
+ 1981.
+
+ [RFC1750] Eastlake, D., 3rd, Crocker, S. and J. Schiller, "Randomness
+ Recommendations for Security", RFC 1750, December 1994.
+
+ [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
+ Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
+
+ [RFC2434] Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an
+ IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 2434,
+ October 1998.
+
+
+
+Bellovin Informational [Page 4]
+
+RFC 3514 The Security Flag in the IPv4 Header 1 April 2003
+
+
+ [RFC2460] Deering, S. and R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol, Version 6
+ (IPv6) Specification", RFC 2460, December 1998.
+
+ [RFC3022] Srisuresh, P. and K. Egevang, "Traditional IP Network
+ Address Translator (Traditional NAT)", RFC 3022, January
+ 2001.
+
+9. Author's Address
+
+ Steven M. Bellovin
+ AT&T Labs Research
+ Shannon Laboratory
+ 180 Park Avenue
+ Florham Park, NJ 07932
+
+ Phone: +1 973-360-8656
+ EMail: bellovin@acm.org
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+Bellovin Informational [Page 5]
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+RFC 3514 The Security Flag in the IPv4 Header 1 April 2003
+
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+10. Full Copyright Statement
+
+ Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.
+
+ This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
+ others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
+ or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
+ and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
+ kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
+ included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this
+ document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
+ the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
+ Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
+ developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
+ copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
+ followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
+ English.
+
+ The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
+ revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.
+
+ This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
+ "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
+ TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS 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.
+
+Acknowledgement
+
+ Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
+ Internet Society.
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+Bellovin Informational [Page 6]
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