Internet-Draft | lispers.net NAT | May 2023 |
Farinacci | Expires 2 December 2023 | [Page] |
This memo documents the lispers.net implementation of LISP NAT traversal functionality. The document describes message formats and protocol semantics necessary to interoperate with the implementation.¶
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This document is an implementation report of a simple mechanism for LISP NAT-Traversal functionality developed by lispers.net. Many ideas in the lispers.net implementation are taken from [I-D.ermagan-lisp-nat-traversal]. This design was first implemented in the lispers.net LISP implementation dating back to January 2014.¶
This implementation of NAT-traversal is not intended to interoperate with [I-D.ermagan-lisp-nat-traversal]. Parts of the implementation may interoperate with non-lispers.net ITRs but likely to not interoperate with non-lispers.net ETRs. See details about this later in the document.¶
The implementation takes a shortcut approach, not compliant with [RFC9300] and [RFC9301], for identifying RTR RLOCs with a unicast priority of 254, which works among consenting lispers.net implementations when no one else is using priority 254 in any other way, and therefore do not recommend it for arbitrary deployments.¶
The procedures described in this document are performed by LISP compliant [RFC9300] [RFC9301] xTRs that reside on the private side of one or more NAT devices that connect them to the public side of the network.¶
The solution is applicable to the following xTR deployments:¶
This document uses terms defined in [RFC9300] and [RFC9301]. The definitions are extended in this section to provide context and details for NAT-Traversal uses.¶
The following sequence of actions describes at a high-level how the lispers.net implementation performs NAT-Traversal and is the basis for a simplified NAT-Traversal protocol design.¶
The lispers.net implementation uses the Info-Request and Info-Reply messages from [I-D.ermagan-lisp-nat-traversal] as well as the NAT-Traversal LISP Canonical Address Format (LCAF) from [RFC8060]. This section indicates how these messages are used by the implementation.¶
0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |Type=7 |0| Reserved | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Nonce . . . | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | . . . Nonce | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Key ID | Authentication Data Length | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ~ Authentication Data ~ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | TTL | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Reserved | EID mask-len | EID-prefix-AFI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | EID-prefix | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | AFI = 0 | <Nothing Follows AFI=0> | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Figure 1 - LISP Info-Request Message Format¶
The lispers.net implementation will send an Info-Request message to each configured Map-Server. The message is sent to UDP destination port 4342 which is the control-plane port for LISP [RFC9301] from a UDP ephemeral source port. The source address is its Private RLOC. When the xTR is multi-homed to more than one NAT device, it sends the Info-Request on all interfaces facing NAT devices.¶
A randomized 64-bit nonce is selected for the message and no authentication is used. The EID-prefix AFI is 17 according to the encoding format in [I-D.ietf-lisp-name-encoding] and the EID-prefix is the hostname of the xTR encoded as a string null terminated. Name collisions are dealt with according to procedures in [I-D.ietf-lisp-name-encoding].¶
An Info-Request is sent out each outgoing interface, with the address of that interface as the Private RLOC, leading to a NAT device. The port pair in the UDP message is the same for each outgoing interface.¶
When the xTR receives an Info-Reply message from the Map-Server in response to this control-plane Info-Request, it caches a list of RTRs from the Info-Reply. If the list of RTRs are different from each Map-Server, the lists are merged. The xTR stores the merged list as the RLOC-set for 4 default map-cache entries. The map-cache entries have the following EID-prefixes:¶
IPv4 unicast: 0.0.0.0/0 IPv4 multicast: (0.0.0.0/0, 224.0.0.0/4) IPv6 unicast: 0::/0 IPv6 multicast: (0::/0, ff00::/8)¶
Now that the xTR has a list of RTRs, it sends a data-plane Info-Request to each RTR to UDP destination port 4341 from a UDP ephemeral source port. The data-plane Info-Request is sent out each interface just like the control-plane Info-Request was sent for the multi-homed NAT device case.¶
When Map-Servers and RTRs return an Info-Reply message to xTRs behind NAT devices, the format of the Info-Reply message is the following.¶
Info-Request messages are sent periodically every 15 seconds to both the configured set of Map-Servers and the discovered set of RTRs to keep state alive in NAT devices.¶
0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |Type=7 |1| Reserved | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Nonce . . . | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | . . . Nonce | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Key ID | Authentication Data Length | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ~ Authentication Data ~ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | TTL | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Reserved | EID mask-len | EID-prefix-AFI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | EID-prefix | +->+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | AFI = 16387 | Rsvd1 | Flags | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | Type = 7 | Rsvd2 | 4 + n | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ N | MS UDP Port Number | ETR UDP Port Number | A +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ T | AFI = x | Global ETR RLOC Address ... | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ L | AFI = x | MS RLOC Address ... | C +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ A | AFI = x | Private ETR RLOC Address ... | F +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | AFI = x | RTR RLOC Address 1 ... | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | AFI = x | RTR RLOC Address n ... | +->+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Figure 2 - LISP Info-Reply Message Format¶
The information returned is the same information that was sent in the Info-Request message except the Info-Reply bit is set (the bit next to Type=7) and the NAT Traversal LCAF encoding is appended.¶
When a Map-Server returns the Info-Reply, the MS UDP Port Number and ETR UDP Port Number is set to 0. All Address fields are empty by using AFI equal to 0. Except for the RTR RLOC address fields which the Map-Server is configured to return to xTRs behind NAT devices.¶
When an RTR returns the Info-Reply, the MS UDP Port Number is set to 0 and the ETR UDP Port Number is set to the UDP source port the RTR received from the Info-Request message. The Global ETR RLOC Address is set to the source address received by the RTR in the Info-Request message. All other address fields are empty by using AFI equal to 0.¶
EID-prefixes registered by an xTR behind a NAT include all the global RLOCs and reachable RTR RLOCs it learns. The xTR can use the unicast priority to control ingress packet flow as described in [RFC9301]. The RTR RLOCs must be registered with a unicast priority of 254 so the Map-Server can identify xTR global RLOCs from RTR RLOCs when proxy Map-Replying. Each RTR RLOC weight is set to 1 so ITRs can load-split traffic across them.¶
The Global RLOCs are encoded in a RLOC-record using the AFI-List LCAF encoding [RFC8060]. There are two AFI encoded addresses in the list, one being AFI=1 which encodes the IPv4 translated NAT address and other being the Distinguished-Name AFI=17 [I-D.ietf-lisp-name-encoding] which encodes the hostname of the xTR. When the xTR is multi-homed, the hostname is appended by a unique interface name. For example, for an xTR behind a NAT that has two interfaces facing the same or two different NAT devices, the Distinguished-Name for each RLOC-record could be "dino-xtr-eth0" and "dino-xtr-eth1" for an xTR configured to be named "dino-xtr".¶
Encoding a Distinguished-Name in an RLOC-record is important so an RTR can use the Global RLOC registered to the mapping system with the translated port stored in its NAT Info Cache. See Section 8 for more details.¶
When a remote ITR sends a Map-Request for a unicast or multicast EID registered by a xTR behind a NAT, the Map-Server returns a partial RLOC-set that contains all the RTRs (RLOC-records with unicast priority 254) in the proxied Map-Reply message.¶
When a RTR sends a Map-Request for a unicast or multicast EID registered by a xTR behind a NAT, the Map-Server returns a partial RLOC-set that contains all the Global RLOCs of the xTR behind the NAT in the proxied Map-Reply message.¶
All packets received by the ITR from the private side of the NAT will use one of the 4 default map-cache entries. There is a unicast and multicast IPv4 default EID-prefix and a unicast and multicast IPv6 default EID-prefix. The RLOC-set is the same for all 4 entries. The RLOC-set contains the globally reachable RLOCs of the RTRs. 5-tuple hashing is used to load-split traffic across the RTRs. RLOC-Probing is used to avoid encapsulating to unreachable RTRs.¶
A remote ITR will get a list of RTRs from the mapping system in a proxy Map-Reply when it sends a Map-Request for a unicast or multicast EID that is registered by an xTR behind a NAT device. The remote ITR will load split traffic across the RTRs from the RLOC-set. Those RTRs can get packets through the NAT devices destined for the xTR behind the NAT since an Info-Request/Info-Reply exchange had already happened between the xTR behind the NAT and the list of RTRs.¶
There can be a reachability situation where an RTR cannot reach the xTR behind a NAT but a remote ITR may 5-tuple hash to this RTR. Which means packets can travel from the remote ITR to the RTR but then get dropped on the path from the RTR to the xTR behind the NAT. To avoid this situation, the xTR behind the NAT RLOC-probes RTRs and when they become unreachable, they are not included in the xTR registrations.¶
The RTR will receive a list of Global RLOCs in a proxy Map-Reply from the mapping system for the xTR behind the NAT. The RTR 5-tuple load-splits packets across the RLOC-set of Global RLOCs that can travel through one or more NAT devices along the path to the ETR behind the NAT device.¶
When the RTR selects a Global RLOC to encapsulate to it must select the correct Translated Port for the UDP destination port in the encapsulation header. The RTR needs to use the same Translated Address and Translated Port pair a NAT device used to translate the Info-Request message otherwise the encapsulated packet will be dropped. The NAT Info Cache contains an entry for every hostname (and optionally appended interface name), translated address and port cached when processing Info-Request messages. The RTR obtains the correct Translated Port from the NAT Info Cache by using the Global RLOC and RLOC-record hostname from the registered RLOC-set.¶
The RTR can test reachability for xTRs behind NATs by encapsulating RLOC-Probe requests in data packets where the UDP source port is set to 4341 and the UDP destination port is set to the Translated Port. The outer header destination address is the Global RLOC for the xTR.¶
A decentralized version of this design is also supported in the lispers.net implementation. See [DECENT-NAT] for an overview. The design allows direct encapsulation from an ITR to an ETR when they both reside behind NAT devices. Packets do not have to take a sub-optimal path through the RTR. The RTR does play a role in informing the ETRs about their translated address and port number just as it does for the centralized version. Here are some details of the design:¶
0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |Type=1 |A|M|P|S|p|s|m|I| Rsvd |N|L|D| IRC | Record Count | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+¶
Your feature mileage may vary depending on the type of NAT or firewall deployed. There is an assumption that the translated port for an xTR that sends to the RTR is the same translated port used for other destinations.¶
The following benefits and observations can be attributed to this design:¶
There are no additional security considerations the implementation provides for NAT-Traversal. However, the general lispers.net implementation does adhere to the recommendations from [RFC9300] and [RFC9301].¶
This implementation does not support [RFC9303] at the current time. It can be implemented as requirements change.¶
The implementation is exposed to several threats described in [RFC7835]. An attacker may spoof Info-Request messages. This implementation does not mitigate that attack, but it could be done in future work by authenticating xTRs like the way key management is used for Map-Register messages according to [RFC9301].¶
The implementation does not set or use the authentication data fields in the Info-Request and Info-Reply messages. However, this will become future work.¶
This implementation makes a single request for IANA.¶
The N-bit in the Map-Request header specified in this document has been used in this implementation. This document requests assignment for this N-bit at the bit position in the Map-Request header indicated below.¶
Registry: Locator/ID Separation Protocol (LISP) Parameters, Sub-Registry: Map-Request Header Bits:¶
0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |Type=1 |A|M|P|S|p|s|R|R| Rsvd |N|L|D| IRC | Record Count | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+¶
Spec Name | IANA Name | Bit Position | Description |
---|---|---|---|
N | map-request-N | 16 | NAT-Traversal Bit |
The code-point values in this specification are already allocated in [AFI] or [RFC8060].¶
The unicast priority value of 254 is used in the implementation to identify an RTR RLOC-record. This is not an IANA registry code-point value and is not being requested to be reserved.¶
The author would like to thank the authors of the LISP NAT-Traversal specification [I-D.ermagan-lisp-nat-traversal] for their initial ideas and prototyping to allow a simpler form of NAT-Traversal to be designed. A special grateful thank you to the members of beta@lispers.net who have been involved in testing the implementation.¶