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132.\" ========================================================================
133.\"
134.IX Title "GVPE.PROTOCOL 7"
135.TH GVPE.PROTOCOL 7 "2008-09-01" "2.2" "GNU Virtual Private Ethernet"
136.\" For nroff, turn off justification. Always turn off hyphenation; it makes
137.\" way too many mistakes in technical documents.
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139.nh
140.SH "The GNU-VPE Protocols"
141.IX Header "The GNU-VPE Protocols"
142.SH "Overview"
143.IX Header "Overview"
144\&\s-1GVPE\s0 can make use of a number of protocols. One of them is the \s-1GNU\s0 \s-1VPE\s0
145protocol which is used to authenticate tunnels and send encrypted data
146packets. This protocol is described in more detail the second part of this
147document.
148.PP
149The first part of this document describes the transport protocols which
150are used by \s-1GVPE\s0 to send it's data packets over the network.
151.SH "PART 1: Transport protocols"
152.IX Header "PART 1: Transport protocols"
153\&\s-1GVPE\s0 offers a wide range of transport protocols that can be used to
154interchange data between nodes. Protocols differ in their overhead, speed,
155reliability, and robustness.
156.PP
157The following sections describe each transport protocol in more
158detail. They are sorted by overhead/efficiency, the most efficient
159transport is listed first:
160.Sh "\s-1RAW\s0 \s-1IP\s0"
161.IX Subsection "RAW IP"
162This protocol is the best choice, performance-wise, as the minimum
163overhead per packet is only 38 bytes.
164.PP
165It works by sending the \s-1VPN\s0 payload using raw \s-1IP\s0 frames (using the
166protocol set by \f(CW\*(C`ip\-proto\*(C'\fR).
167.PP
168Using raw \s-1IP\s0 frames has the drawback that many firewalls block \*(L"unknown\*(R"
169protocols, so this transport only works if you have full \s-1IP\s0 connectivity
170between nodes.
171.Sh "\s-1ICMP\s0"
172.IX Subsection "ICMP"
173This protocol offers very low overhead (minimum 42 bytes), and can
174sometimes tunnel through firewalls when other protocols can not.
175.PP
176It works by prepending an \s-1ICMP\s0 header with type \f(CW\*(C`icmp\-type\*(C'\fR and a code
177of \f(CW255\fR. The default \f(CW\*(C`icmp\-type\*(C'\fR is \f(CW\*(C`echo\-reply\*(C'\fR, so the resulting
178packets look like echo replies, which looks rather strange to network
179administrators.
180.PP
181This transport should only be used if other transports (i.e. raw \s-1IP\s0) are
182not available or undesirable (due to their overhead).
183.Sh "\s-1UDP\s0"
184.IX Subsection "UDP"
185This is a good general choice for the transport protocol as \s-1UDP\s0 packets
186tunnel well through most firewalls and routers, and the overhead per
187packet is moderate (minimum 58 bytes).
188.PP
189It should be used if \s-1RAW\s0 \s-1IP\s0 is not available.
190.Sh "\s-1TCP\s0"
191.IX Subsection "TCP"
192This protocol is a very bad choice, as it not only has high overhead (more
193than 60 bytes), but the transport also retries on it's own, which leads
194to congestion when the link has moderate packet loss (as both the \s-1TCP\s0
195transport and the tunneled traffic will retry, increasing congestion more
196and more). It also has high latency and is quite inefficient.
197.PP
198It's only useful when tunneling through firewalls that block better
199protocols. If a node doesn't have direct internet access but a \s-1HTTP\s0 proxy
200that supports the \s-1CONNECT\s0 method it can be used to tunnel through a web
201proxy. For this to work, the \f(CW\*(C`tcp\-port\*(C'\fR should be \f(CW443\fR (\f(CW\*(C`https\*(C'\fR), as
202most proxies do not allow connections to other ports.
203.PP
204It is an abuse of the usage a proxy was designed for, so make sure you are
205allowed to use it for \s-1GVPE\s0.
206.PP
207This protocol also has server and client sides. If the \f(CW\*(C`tcp\-port\*(C'\fR is
208set to zero, other nodes cannot connect to this node directly. If the
209\&\f(CW\*(C`tcp\-port\*(C'\fR is non-zero, the node can act both as a client as well as a
210server.
211.Sh "\s-1DNS\s0"
212.IX Subsection "DNS"
213\&\fB\s-1WARNING:\s0\fR Parsing and generating \s-1DNS\s0 packets is rather tricky. The code
214almost certainly contains buffer overflows and other, likely exploitable,
215bugs. You have been warned.
216.PP
217This is the worst choice of transport protocol with respect to overhead
218(overhead can be 2\-3 times higher than the transferred data), and latency
219(which can be many seconds). Some \s-1DNS\s0 servers might not be prepared to
220handle the traffic and drop or corrupt packets. The client also has to
221constantly poll the server for data, so the client will constantly create
222traffic even if it doesn't need to transport packets.
223.PP
224In addition, the same problems as the \s-1TCP\s0 transport also plague this
225protocol.
226.PP
227It's only use is to tunnel through firewalls that do not allow direct
228internet access. Similar to using a \s-1HTTP\s0 proxy (as the \s-1TCP\s0 transport
229does), it uses a local \s-1DNS\s0 server/forwarder (given by the \f(CW\*(C`dns\-forw\-host\*(C'\fR
230configuration value) as a proxy to send and receive data as a client,
231and an \f(CW\*(C`NS\*(C'\fR record pointing to the \s-1GVPE\s0 server (as given by the
232\&\f(CW\*(C`dns\-hostname\*(C'\fR directive).
233.PP
234The only good side of this protocol is that it can tunnel through most
235firewalls mostly undetected, iff the local \s-1DNS\s0 server/forwarder is sane
236(which is true for most routers, wireless \s-1LAN\s0 gateways and nameservers).
237.PP
238Fine-tuning needs to be done by editing \f(CW\*(C`src/vpn_dns.C\*(C'\fR directly.
239.SH "PART 2: The GNU VPE protocol"
240.IX Header "PART 2: The GNU VPE protocol"
241This section, unfortunately, is not yet finished, although the protocol
242is stable (until bugs in the cryptography are found, which will likely
243completely change the following description). Nevertheless, it should give
244you some overview over the protocol.
245.Sh "Anatomy of a \s-1VPN\s0 packet"
246.IX Subsection "Anatomy of a VPN packet"
247The exact layout and field lengths of a \s-1VPN\s0 packet is determined at
248compile time and doesn't change. The same structure is used for all
249transport protocols, be it \s-1RAWIP\s0 or \s-1TCP\s0.
250.PP
251.Vb 3
252\& +\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-+
253\& | HMAC | TYPE | SRCDST | DATA |
254\& +\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-+
255.Ve
256.PP
257The \s-1HMAC\s0 field is present in all packets, even if not used (e.g. in auth
258request packets), in which case it is set to all zeroes. The checksum
259itself is calculated over the \s-1TYPE\s0, \s-1SRCDST\s0 and \s-1DATA\s0 fields in all cases.
260.PP
261The \s-1TYPE\s0 field is a single byte and determines the purpose of the packet
262(e.g. \s-1RESET\s0, \s-1COMPRESSED/UNCOMPRESSED\s0 \s-1DATA\s0, \s-1PING\s0, \s-1AUTH\s0 \s-1REQUEST/RESPONSE\s0,
263\&\s-1CONNECT\s0 \s-1REQUEST/INFO\s0 etc.).
264.PP
265\&\s-1SRCDST\s0 is a three byte field which contains the source and destination
266node IDs (12 bits each).
267.PP
268The \s-1DATA\s0 portion differs between each packet type, naturally, and is the
269only part that can be encrypted. Data packets contain more fields, as
270shown:
271.PP
272.Vb 3
273\& +\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-+
274\& | HMAC | TYPE | SRCDST | RAND | SEQNO | DATA |
275\& +\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-\-+\-\-\-\-\-\-+
276.Ve
277.PP
278\&\s-1RAND\s0 is a sequence of fully random bytes, used to increase the entropy of
279the data for encryption purposes.
280.PP
281\&\s-1SEQNO\s0 is a 32\-bit sequence number. It is negotiated at every connection
282initialization and starts at some random 31 bit value. \s-1VPE\s0 currently uses
283a sliding window of 512 packets/sequence numbers to detect reordering,
284duplication and replay attacks.
285.Sh "The authentication protocol"
286.IX Subsection "The authentication protocol"
287Before nodes can exchange packets, they need to establish authenticity of
288the other side and a key. Every node has a private \s-1RSA\s0 key and the public
289\&\s-1RSA\s0 keys of all other nodes.
290.PP
291A host establishes a simplex connection by sending the other node an
292\&\s-1RSA\s0 encrypted challenge containing a random challenge (consisting of
293the encryption key to use when sending packets, more random data and
294\&\s-1PKCS1_OAEP\s0 padding) and a random 16 byte \*(L"challenge-id\*(R" (used to detect
295duplicate auth packets). The destination node will respond by replying
296with an (unencrypted) \s-1RIPEMD160\s0 hash of the decrypted challenge, which
297will authenticate that node. The destination node will also set the
298outgoing encryption parameters as given in the packet.
299.PP
300When the source node receives a correct auth reply (by verifying the
301hash and the id, which will expire after 120 seconds), it will start to
302accept data packets from the destination node.
303.PP
304This means that a node can only initiate a simplex connection, telling the
305other side the key it has to use when it sends packets. The challenge
306reply is only used to set the current \s-1IP\s0 address of the other side and
307protocol parameters.
308.PP
309This protocol is completely symmetric, so to be able to send packets the
310destination node must send a challenge in the exact same way as already
311described (so, in essence, two simplex connections are created per node
312pair).
313.Sh "Retrying"
314.IX Subsection "Retrying"
315When there is no response to an auth request, the node will send auth
316requests in bursts with an exponential back-off. After some time it will
317resort to \s-1PING\s0 packets, which are very small (8 bytes + protocol header)
318and lightweight (no \s-1RSA\s0 operations required). A node that receives ping
319requests from an unconnected peer will respond by trying to create a
320connection.
321.PP
322In addition to the exponential back-off, there is a global rate-limit on
323a per-IP base. It allows long bursts but will limit total packet rate to
324something like one control packet every ten seconds, to avoid accidental
325floods due to protocol problems (like a \s-1RSA\s0 key file mismatch between two
326nodes).
327.PP
328The intervals between retries are limited by the \f(CW\*(C`max\-retry\*(C'\fR
329configuration value. A node with \f(CW\*(C`connect\*(C'\fR = \f(CW\*(C`always\*(C'\fR will always retry,
330a node with \f(CW\*(C`connect\*(C'\fR = \f(CW\*(C`ondemand\*(C'\fR will only try (and re-try) to connect
331as long as there are packets in the queue, usually this limits the retry
332period to \f(CW\*(C`max\-ttl\*(C'\fR seconds.
333.PP
334Sending packets over the \s-1VPN\s0 will reset the retry intervals as well, which
335means as long as somebody is trying to send packets to a given node, \s-1GVPE\s0
336will try to connect every few seconds.
337.Sh "Routing and Protocol translation"
338.IX Subsection "Routing and Protocol translation"
339The \s-1GVPE\s0 routing algorithm is easy: there isn't much routing to speak
340of: When routing packets to another node, \s-1GVPE\s0 trues the following
341options, in order:
342.IP "If the two nodes should be able to reach each other directly (common protocol, port known), then \s-1GVPE\s0 will send the packet directly to the other node." 4
343.IX Item "If the two nodes should be able to reach each other directly (common protocol, port known), then GVPE will send the packet directly to the other node."
344.PD 0
345.ie n .IP "If this isn't possible (e.g. because the node doesn't have a \*(C`hostname\*(C' or known port), but the nodes speak a common protocol and a router is available, then \s-1GVPE\s0 will ask a router to ""mediate"" between both nodes (see below)." 4
346.el .IP "If this isn't possible (e.g. because the node doesn't have a \f(CW\*(C`hostname\*(C'\fR or known port), but the nodes speak a common protocol and a router is available, then \s-1GVPE\s0 will ask a router to ``mediate'' between both nodes (see below)." 4
347.IX Item "If this isn't possible (e.g. because the node doesn't have a hostname or known port), but the nodes speak a common protocol and a router is available, then GVPE will ask a router to mediate between both nodes (see below)."
348.ie n .IP "If a direct connection isn't possible (no common protocols) or forbidden (\*(C`deny\-direct\*(C'\fR) and there are any routers, then \s-1GVPE\s0 will try to send packets to the router with the highest priority that is connected already \fIand is able (as specified by the config file) to connect directly to the target node." 4
349.el .IP "If a direct connection isn't possible (no common protocols) or forbidden (\f(CW\*(C`deny\-direct\*(C'\fR) and there are any routers, then \s-1GVPE\s0 will try to send packets to the router with the highest priority that is connected already \fIand\fR is able (as specified by the config file) to connect directly to the target node." 4
350.IX Item "If a direct connection isn't possible (no common protocols) or forbidden (deny-direct) and there are any routers, then GVPE will try to send packets to the router with the highest priority that is connected already and is able (as specified by the config file) to connect directly to the target node."
351.IP "If no such router exists, then \s-1GVPE\s0 will simply send the packet to the node with the highest priority available." 4
352.IX Item "If no such router exists, then GVPE will simply send the packet to the node with the highest priority available."
353.IP "Failing all that, the packet will be dropped." 4
354.IX Item "Failing all that, the packet will be dropped."
355.PD
356.PP
357A host can usually declare itself unreachable directly by setting it's
358port number(s) to zero. It can declare other hosts as unreachable by using
359a config-file that disables all protocols for these other hosts. Another
360option is to disable all protocols on that host in the other config files.
361.PP
362If two hosts cannot connect to each other because their \s-1IP\s0 address(es)
363are not known (such as dial-up hosts), one side will send a \fImediated\fR
364connection request to a router (routers must be configured to act as
365routers!), which will send both the originating and the destination host
366a connection info request with protocol information and \s-1IP\s0 address of the
367other host (if known). Both hosts will then try to establish a direct
368connection to the other peer, which is usually possible even when both
369hosts are behind a \s-1NAT\s0 gateway.
370.PP
371Routing via other nodes works because the \s-1SRCDST\s0 field is not encrypted,
372so the router can just forward the packet to the destination host. Since
373each host uses it's own private key, the router will not be able to
374decrypt or encrypt packets, it will just act as a simple router and
375protocol translator.

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