Hello everyone,

The arin-ppml list is open to the general public, and provides a forum to raise 
and discuss policy-related ideas and issues surrounding existing and proposed 
ARIN policies.  ARIN maintains another mailing list , arin-tech-discuss where 
those interested in providing feedback or seeking information from ARIN or 
other community members about ARIN's services on a more technical level. 
Information on all the mailing lists maintained by ARIN can be found on the 
ARIN website at the following link. 
(arin.net/participate/community/mailing_lists/#public-policy-mailing-list)

As stated deeper in this thread, the NANOG list is a location where 
participants will be better suited to provide more meaningful feedback on your 
comments and questions.

Best regards,

Brad Gorman
Sr Product Owner, Routing Security
American Registry for  Internet Numbers


From: ARIN-PPML <arin-ppml-boun...@arin.net> on behalf of Michel Py via 
ARIN-PPML <arin-ppml@arin.net>
Reply-To: Michel Py <mic...@arneill-py.sacramento.ca.us>
Date: Monday, June 5, 2023 at 10:29 PM
To: PPML <arin-ppml@arin.net>
Subject: [arin-ppml] implementing RPKI prefix validation actually increases risk

Hi folks,

I am bumping into a dark side of RPKI prefix validation that actually increases 
risk to the network when deployed.

As many others here do, I use BGP blackhole feeds (RTBH). This technique has 
been around for a long time.
It is quite a common situation in some orgs to have the in-house SIEM/IDS 
redistribute blackhole prefixes via a BGP feed.
Also, there are numerous publicly available ones such as :
https://team-cymru.com/community-services/bogon-reference/bogon-reference-bgp/
https://www.spamhaus.org/bgpf/
http://arneill-py.sacramento.ca.us/cbbc/

When configuring RPKI validation, here is what happens. 152.89.196.0/24 is a 
real-world example of a prefix that has been blacklisted by three different 
RTBH feeds.
After implementing RPKI validation, it has generated some volume of firewall 
alarms for different type of attacks.

c4321-michel#sh ip bgp | beg 152.89.196.
BGP table version is 48156064, local router ID is 173.166.233.21
Status codes: s suppressed, d damped, h history, * valid, > best, i - internal,
Origin codes: i - IGP, e - EGP, ? - incomplete
RPKI validation codes: V valid, I invalid, N Not found
      Network          Next Hop            Metric LocPrf Weight Path
I*    152.89.196.0/24  192.0.2.1                0     90      0 21719 I         
     <== Trusted RTBH
N* i                   192.0.2.1                     100      1 i               
     <== CBBC
I*                     192.0.2.1                0     40      0 65190 i         
     <== Spamhaus
V*>                    173.166.233.22                 30      0 1299 9002 57523 
i    <== Prefix from full feed

The problem here is that RPKI validation is at the very top of the BGP bestpath 
decision process, before weight and local-preference, without any way to change 
that.
Therefore, the “Valid” status of the RPKI route affectively renders the RTBH 
feeds useless. No matter what manipulations of other parameters may be 
configured in route-maps, the RPKI status will override everything else.
Unsurprisingly, Cisco says that doing something about it is impossible.

Unfortunately, the “Valid” RPKI status presents no warranties whatsoever that 
the prefix is not used for rogue activities. Same as HTTPS certificates, crooks 
and spammers have realized that a ROA was a necessary part of doing their dirty 
business.
This particular prefix is a well-known source of attacks; there are very valid 
reasons it is present in multiple BGP blackholes. Unfortunately, RPKI 
validation, combined with Cisco’s implementation, as provided bad actors with a 
tool to disable a blacklisting method that plenty of orgs are currently using.

I am forced to disable RPKI prefix validation. To me, RPKI prefix validation 
does not bring enough value to compensate for the loss of the protection that 
the BGP blackhole feeds provide. Implementing RPKI validation has actually 
increased the volume of attacks on my network, attacks that were previously 
blocked right at the very edge. The risk increase is immediate : implementing 
RPKI validation is what made me look at these new firewall alarms. On the other 
hand, the gain is not immediately perceptible.

In terms of public policy and ARIN, I think that there is a consensus that 
deploying RPKI validation is good for everyone. I am posting this so that the 
community can build an understanding of why it may not be deployed universally. 
I am not deploying it because I don’t want it or don’t understand it, I am not 
deploying it because it simply does not work for me. I don’t think I will be 
the only one in that case. It looked like a good idea on paper, but the 
impossibility to accommodate currently implemented security measures is a no-go.

Michel

_______________________________________________
ARIN-PPML
You are receiving this message because you are subscribed to
the ARIN Public Policy Mailing List (ARIN-PPML@arin.net).
Unsubscribe or manage your mailing list subscription at:
https://lists.arin.net/mailman/listinfo/arin-ppml
Please contact i...@arin.net if you experience any issues.

Reply via email to