46. IPsec Security Gateway Sample Application

The IPsec Security Gateway application is an example of a “real world” application using DPDK cryptodev framework.

46.1. Overview

The application demonstrates the implementation of a Security Gateway (not IPsec compliant, see the Constraints section below) using DPDK based on RFC4301, RFC4303, RFC3602 and RFC2404.

Internet Key Exchange (IKE) is not implemented, so only manual setting of Security Policies and Security Associations is supported.

The Security Policies (SP) are implemented as ACL rules, the Security Associations (SA) are stored in a table and the routing is implemented using LPM.

The application classifies the ports as Protected and Unprotected. Thus, traffic received on an Unprotected or Protected port is consider Inbound or Outbound respectively.

The application also supports complete IPSec protocol offload to hardware (Look aside crypto accelarator or using ethernet device). It also support inline ipsec processing by the supported ethernet device during transmission. These modes can be selected during the SA creation configuration.

In case of complete protocol offload, the processing of headers(ESP and outer IP header) is done by the hardware and the application does not need to add/remove them during outbound/inbound processing.

For inline offloaded outbound traffic, the application will not do the LPM lookup for routing, as the port on which the packet has to be forwarded will be part of the SA. Security parameters will be configured on that port only, and sending the packet on other ports could result in unencrypted packets being sent out.

The Path for IPsec Inbound traffic is:

  • Read packets from the port.
  • Classify packets between IPv4 and ESP.
  • Perform Inbound SA lookup for ESP packets based on their SPI.
  • Perform Verification/Decryption (Not needed in case of inline ipsec).
  • Remove ESP and outer IP header (Not needed in case of protocol offload).
  • Inbound SP check using ACL of decrypted packets and any other IPv4 packets.
  • Routing.
  • Write packet to port.

The Path for the IPsec Outbound traffic is:

  • Read packets from the port.
  • Perform Outbound SP check using ACL of all IPv4 traffic.
  • Perform Outbound SA lookup for packets that need IPsec protection.
  • Add ESP and outer IP header (Not needed in case protocol offload).
  • Perform Encryption/Digest (Not needed in case of inline ipsec).
  • Routing.
  • Write packet to port.

46.2. Constraints

  • No IPv6 options headers.
  • No AH mode.
  • Supported algorithms: AES-CBC, AES-CTR, AES-GCM, HMAC-SHA1 and NULL.
  • Each SA must be handle by a unique lcore (1 RX queue per port).
  • No chained mbufs.

46.3. Compiling the Application

To compile the sample application see Compiling the Sample Applications.

The application is located in the rpsec-secgw sub-directory.

  1. [Optional] Build the application for debugging: This option adds some extra flags, disables compiler optimizations and is verbose:

    make DEBUG=1

46.4. Running the Application

The application has a number of command line options:

./build/ipsec-secgw [EAL options] --
                     -p PORTMASK -P -u PORTMASK -j FRAMESIZE
                     --config (port,queue,lcore)[,(port,queue,lcore]
                     --single-sa SAIDX
                     -f CONFIG_FILE_PATH

Where:

  • -p PORTMASK: Hexadecimal bitmask of ports to configure.
  • -P: optional. Sets all ports to promiscuous mode so that packets are accepted regardless of the packet’s Ethernet MAC destination address. Without this option, only packets with the Ethernet MAC destination address set to the Ethernet address of the port are accepted (default is enabled).
  • -u PORTMASK: hexadecimal bitmask of unprotected ports
  • -j FRAMESIZE: optional. Enables jumbo frames with the maximum size specified as FRAMESIZE. If an invalid value is provided as FRAMESIZE then the default value 9000 is used.
  • --config (port,queue,lcore)[,(port,queue,lcore)]: determines which queues from which ports are mapped to which cores.
  • --single-sa SAIDX: use a single SA for outbound traffic, bypassing the SP on both Inbound and Outbound. This option is meant for debugging/performance purposes.
  • -f CONFIG_FILE_PATH: the full path of text-based file containing all configuration items for running the application (See Configuration file syntax section below). -f CONFIG_FILE_PATH must be specified. ONLY the UNIX format configuration file is accepted.

The mapping of lcores to port/queues is similar to other l3fwd applications.

For example, given the following command line:

./build/ipsec-secgw -l 20,21 -n 4 --socket-mem 0,2048       \
       --vdev "crypto_null" -- -p 0xf -P -u 0x3      \
       --config="(0,0,20),(1,0,20),(2,0,21),(3,0,21)"       \
       -f /path/to/config_file                              \

where each options means:

  • The -l option enables cores 20 and 21.

  • The -n option sets memory 4 channels.

  • The --socket-mem to use 2GB on socket 1.

  • The --vdev "crypto_null" option creates virtual NULL cryptodev PMD.

  • The -p option enables ports (detected) 0, 1, 2 and 3.

  • The -P option enables promiscuous mode.

  • The -u option sets ports 1 and 2 as unprotected, leaving 2 and 3 as protected.

  • The --config option enables one queue per port with the following mapping:

    Port Queue lcore Description
    0 0 20 Map queue 0 from port 0 to lcore 20.
    1 0 20 Map queue 0 from port 1 to lcore 20.
    2 0 21 Map queue 0 from port 2 to lcore 21.
    3 0 21 Map queue 0 from port 3 to lcore 21.

  • The -f /path/to/config_file option enables the application read and parse the configuration file specified, and configures the application with a given set of SP, SA and Routing entries accordingly. The syntax of the configuration file will be explained below in more detail. Please note the parser only accepts UNIX format text file. Other formats such as DOS/MAC format will cause a parse error.

Refer to the DPDK Getting Started Guide for general information on running applications and the Environment Abstraction Layer (EAL) options.

The application would do a best effort to “map” crypto devices to cores, with hardware devices having priority. Basically, hardware devices if present would be assigned to a core before software ones. This means that if the application is using a single core and both hardware and software crypto devices are detected, hardware devices will be used.

A way to achieve the case where you want to force the use of virtual crypto devices is to whitelist the Ethernet devices needed and therefore implicitly blacklisting all hardware crypto devices.

For example, something like the following command line:

./build/ipsec-secgw -l 20,21 -n 4 --socket-mem 0,2048 \
        -w 81:00.0 -w 81:00.1 -w 81:00.2 -w 81:00.3 \
        --vdev "crypto_aesni_mb" --vdev "crypto_null" \
        -- \
        -p 0xf -P -u 0x3 --config="(0,0,20),(1,0,20),(2,0,21),(3,0,21)" \
        -f sample.cfg

46.5. Configurations

The following sections provide the syntax of configurations to initialize your SP, SA and Routing tables. Configurations shall be specified in the configuration file to be passed to the application. The file is then parsed by the application. The successful parsing will result in the appropriate rules being applied to the tables accordingly.

46.5.1. Configuration File Syntax

As mention in the overview, the Security Policies are ACL rules. The application parsers the rules specified in the configuration file and passes them to the ACL table, and replicates them per socket in use.

Following are the configuration file syntax.

46.5.1.1. General rule syntax

The parse treats one line in the configuration file as one configuration item (unless the line concatenation symbol exists). Every configuration item shall follow the syntax of either SP, SA, or Routing rules specified below.

The configuration parser supports the following special symbols:

  • Comment symbol #. Any character from this symbol to the end of line is treated as comment and will not be parsed.
  • Line concatenation symbol \. This symbol shall be placed in the end of the line to be concatenated to the line below. Multiple lines’ concatenation is supported.

46.5.1.2. SP rule syntax

The SP rule syntax is shown as follows:

sp <ip_ver> <dir> esp <action> <priority> <src_ip> <dst_ip>
<proto> <sport> <dport>

where each options means:

<ip_ver>

  • IP protocol version
  • Optional: No
  • Available options:
    • ipv4: IP protocol version 4
    • ipv6: IP protocol version 6

<dir>

  • The traffic direction
  • Optional: No
  • Available options:
    • in: inbound traffic
    • out: outbound traffic

<action>

  • IPsec action
  • Optional: No
  • Available options:
    • protect <SA_idx>: the specified traffic is protected by SA rule with id SA_idx
    • bypass: the specified traffic traffic is bypassed
    • discard: the specified traffic is discarded

<priority>

  • Rule priority
  • Optional: Yes, default priority 0 will be used
  • Syntax: pri <id>

<src_ip>

  • The source IP address and mask
  • Optional: Yes, default address 0.0.0.0 and mask of 0 will be used
  • Syntax:
    • src X.X.X.X/Y for IPv4
    • src XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX/Y for IPv6

<dst_ip>

  • The destination IP address and mask
  • Optional: Yes, default address 0.0.0.0 and mask of 0 will be used
  • Syntax:
    • dst X.X.X.X/Y for IPv4
    • dst XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX/Y for IPv6

<proto>

  • The protocol start and end range
  • Optional: yes, default range of 0 to 0 will be used
  • Syntax: proto X:Y

<sport>

  • The source port start and end range
  • Optional: yes, default range of 0 to 0 will be used
  • Syntax: sport X:Y

<dport>

  • The destination port start and end range
  • Optional: yes, default range of 0 to 0 will be used
  • Syntax: dport X:Y

Example SP rules:

sp ipv4 out esp protect 105 pri 1 dst 192.168.115.0/24 sport 0:65535 \
dport 0:65535

sp ipv6 in esp bypass pri 1 dst 0000:0000:0000:0000:5555:5555:\
0000:0000/96 sport 0:65535 dport 0:65535

46.5.1.3. SA rule syntax

The successfully parsed SA rules will be stored in an array table.

The SA rule syntax is shown as follows:

sa <dir> <spi> <cipher_algo> <cipher_key> <auth_algo> <auth_key>
<mode> <src_ip> <dst_ip> <action_type> <port_id>

where each options means:

<dir>

  • The traffic direction
  • Optional: No
  • Available options:
    • in: inbound traffic
    • out: outbound traffic

<spi>

  • The SPI number
  • Optional: No
  • Syntax: unsigned integer number

<cipher_algo>

  • Cipher algorithm
  • Optional: Yes, unless <aead_algo> is not used
  • Available options:
    • null: NULL algorithm
    • aes-128-cbc: AES-CBC 128-bit algorithm
    • aes-256-cbc: AES-CBC 256-bit algorithm
    • aes-128-ctr: AES-CTR 128-bit algorithm
  • Syntax: cipher_algo <your algorithm>

<cipher_key>

  • Cipher key, NOT available when ‘null’ algorithm is used

  • Optional: Yes, unless <aead_algo> is not used. Must be followed by <cipher_algo> option

  • Syntax: Hexadecimal bytes (0x0-0xFF) concatenate by colon symbol ‘:’. The number of bytes should be as same as the specified cipher algorithm key size.

    For example: cipher_key A1:B2:C3:D4:A1:B2:C3:D4:A1:B2:C3:D4: A1:B2:C3:D4

<auth_algo>

  • Authentication algorithm

  • Optional: Yes, unless <aead_algo> is not used

  • Available options:

    • null: NULL algorithm
    • sha1-hmac: HMAC SHA1 algorithm

<auth_key>

  • Authentication key, NOT available when ‘null’ or ‘aes-128-gcm’ algorithm is used.

  • Optional: Yes, unless <aead_algo> is not used. Must be followed by <auth_algo> option

  • Syntax: Hexadecimal bytes (0x0-0xFF) concatenate by colon symbol ‘:’. The number of bytes should be as same as the specified authentication algorithm key size.

    For example: auth_key A1:B2:C3:D4:A1:B2:C3:D4:A1:B2:C3:D4:A1:B2:C3:D4: A1:B2:C3:D4

<aead_algo>

  • AEAD algorithm
  • Optional: Yes, unless <cipher_algo> and <auth_algo> are not used
  • Available options:
    • aes-128-gcm: AES-GCM 128-bit algorithm
  • Syntax: cipher_algo <your algorithm>

<aead_key>

  • Cipher key, NOT available when ‘null’ algorithm is used

  • Optional: Yes, unless <cipher_algo> and <auth_algo> are not used. Must be followed by <aead_algo> option

  • Syntax: Hexadecimal bytes (0x0-0xFF) concatenate by colon symbol ‘:’. The number of bytes should be as same as the specified AEAD algorithm key size.

    For example: aead_key A1:B2:C3:D4:A1:B2:C3:D4:A1:B2:C3:D4: A1:B2:C3:D4

<mode>

  • The operation mode
  • Optional: No
  • Available options:
    • ipv4-tunnel: Tunnel mode for IPv4 packets
    • ipv6-tunnel: Tunnel mode for IPv6 packets
    • transport: transport mode
  • Syntax: mode XXX

<src_ip>

  • The source IP address. This option is not available when transport mode is used
  • Optional: Yes, default address 0.0.0.0 will be used
  • Syntax:
    • src X.X.X.X for IPv4
    • src XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX for IPv6

<dst_ip>

  • The destination IP address. This option is not available when transport mode is used
  • Optional: Yes, default address 0.0.0.0 will be used
  • Syntax:
    • dst X.X.X.X for IPv4
    • dst XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX for IPv6

<type>

  • Action type to specify the security action. This option specify the SA to be performed with look aside protocol offload to HW accelerator or protocol offload on ethernet device or inline crypto processing on the ethernet device during transmission.
  • Optional: Yes, default type no-offload
  • Available options:
    • lookaside-protocol-offload: look aside protocol offload to HW accelerator
    • inline-protocol-offload: inline protocol offload on ethernet device
    • inline-crypto-offload: inline crypto processing on ethernet device
    • no-offload: no offloading to hardware

<port_id>

  • Port/device ID of the ethernet/crypto accelerator for which the SA is configured. For inline-crypto-offload and inline-protocol-offload, this port will be used for routing. The routing table will not be referred in this case.
  • Optional: No, if type is not no-offload
  • Syntax:
    • port_id X X is a valid device number in decimal

Example SA rules:

sa out 5 cipher_algo null auth_algo null mode ipv4-tunnel \
src 172.16.1.5 dst 172.16.2.5

sa out 25 cipher_algo aes-128-cbc \
cipher_key c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3 \
auth_algo sha1-hmac \
auth_key c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3:c3 \
mode ipv6-tunnel \
src 1111:1111:1111:1111:1111:1111:1111:5555 \
dst 2222:2222:2222:2222:2222:2222:2222:5555

sa in 105 aead_algo aes-128-gcm \
aead_key de:ad:be:ef:de:ad:be:ef:de:ad:be:ef:de:ad:be:ef:de:ad:be:ef \
mode ipv4-tunnel src 172.16.2.5 dst 172.16.1.5

sa out 5 cipher_algo aes-128-cbc cipher_key 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0 \
auth_algo sha1-hmac auth_key 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0 \
mode ipv4-tunnel src 172.16.1.5 dst 172.16.2.5 \
type lookaside-protocol-offload port_id 4

46.5.1.4. Routing rule syntax

The Routing rule syntax is shown as follows:

rt <ip_ver> <src_ip> <dst_ip> <port>

where each options means:

<ip_ver>

  • IP protocol version
  • Optional: No
  • Available options:
    • ipv4: IP protocol version 4
    • ipv6: IP protocol version 6

<src_ip>

  • The source IP address and mask
  • Optional: Yes, default address 0.0.0.0 and mask of 0 will be used
  • Syntax:
    • src X.X.X.X/Y for IPv4
    • src XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX/Y for IPv6

<dst_ip>

  • The destination IP address and mask
  • Optional: Yes, default address 0.0.0.0 and mask of 0 will be used
  • Syntax:
    • dst X.X.X.X/Y for IPv4
    • dst XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX/Y for IPv6

<port>

  • The traffic output port id
  • Optional: yes, default output port 0 will be used
  • Syntax: port X

Example SP rules:

rt ipv4 dst 172.16.1.5/32 port 0

rt ipv6 dst 1111:1111:1111:1111:1111:1111:1111:5555/116 port 0