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Re: New router feature - icmp error source-interface [was: icmp rpf]

  • From: Patrick W. Gilmore
  • Date: Mon Sep 25 17:38:09 2006 
On Sep 25, 2006, at 5:26 PM, Berkman, Scott wrote:
Might this not be a bad idea if the router has interfaces on multiple,
separate paths? Such a case may be where one customer or set of traffic
routes over a link to ISP A, and other traffic over a link to ISP B, and
not all related addresses are portable. In that case the loopback
address for the ICMP errors might show from an address that seems to
belong to a block from ISP A, but is really traffic that was transported
on ISP B.

Just trying to come up with possible issues, not saying that's a
best practice or anything...
I doubt it is possible to make a rule / knob / idea / feature / whatever that cannot be misused, or that is applicable to all corner cases.

That's why it's a knob. :) If it is applicable to your situation, you should use it. If not, not.

But if the knob has enough use in enough situations, then it is probably something we want to push the vendors to implement.

--
TTFN,
patrick


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of
Patrick W. Gilmore
Sent: Monday, September 25, 2006 9:23 AM
To: [email protected]
Cc: Patrick W. Gilmore
Subject: New router feature - icmp error source-interface [was: icmp
rpf]


On Sep 25, 2006, at 9:06 AM, Ian Mason wrote:

ICMP packets will, by design, originate from the incoming interface
used by the packet that triggers the ICMP packet. Thus giving an
interface an address is implicitly giving that interface the ability
to source packets with that address to potential anywhere in the
Internet. If you don't legitimately announce address space then
sourcing packets with addresses in that space is (one definition of)
spoofing.
Who thinks it would be a "good idea" to have a knob such that ICMP error
messages are always source from a certain IP address on a router?

For instance, you could have a "loopback99" which is in an announced
block, but filtered at all your borders. Then set "ip icmp error
source-interface loopback99" or something. All error messages from a
router would come from this address, regardless of the incoming or
outgoing interface. Things like PMTUD would still work, and your / 30s
could be in private space or non-announced space or even
imaginary^Wv6 space. :)

Note I said "error messages", so things like TTL Expired, Port
Unreachable, and Can't Fragment would come from here, but things like
ICMP Echo Request / Reply pairs would not. Perhaps that should be
considered as well, but it is not what I am suggesting here.

Obviously there's lots of side effects, and probably unintended
consequences I have not considered, but I think the good might out-
weigh the bad. Or not. Which is why I'm offering it up for suggestion.

(Unless, of course, I get 726384 "you are off-topic" replies, in which
case I withdraw the suggestion.)

--
TTFN,
patrick