Internet Protocol Security (IPsec)¶
IPsec is a suite of protocols designed to secure Internet Protocol (IP) communications by authenticating and encrypting each IP packet in a data stream. It operates at the network layer, providing security for both IPv4 and IPv6, and is widely used in VPNs, site-to-site tunnels, and secure communication channels. However, its complexity, cryptographic dependencies, and integration with network stack fundamentals make it a prime target for exploitation.
Compromising IPsec's cryptographic foundations to breach VPNs and network-layer security:
- Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) protocol notes
- Attack tree (IPsec)
- Cryptographic attacks
- Key management attacks
- IPsec implementation flaw attacks
- Protocol downgrade attacks
- Security Association manipulation attacks
- Identity spoofing attacks
- Memory corruption attacks
- Resource exhaustion attacks
- Configuration bypass attacks
Disclaimer¶
An attack tree is structural, not operational. It exists in the comfortable world of pure logic, where things either work or they don’t, gates either open or stay closed, and time is merely a dimension I/you/we draw an arrow along.
It’s comprehensive. It has branches for sub-prefix hijacking, exact-prefix hijacking, squatting attacks, path manipulation, and several dozen other variations. Each node connects logically to its children. The structure is clean.
Until someone takes a tree seriously enough to ask but what would this actually *look* like?