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How do you secure dynamic routing protocols?

Securing dynamic routing protocols (like BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, RIP, etc.) is crucial to maintaining the integrity and stability of a network. These protocols were not originally designed with strong security in mind, so network engineers must apply a combination of authentication, filtering, and policy controls to mitigate threats like route hijacking, spoofing, and DoS.

Here's a breakdown of how to secure the most common dynamic routing protocols:

How do you secure dynamic routing protocols?

🔐 1. Authentication

✅ OSPF, RIP, EIGRP (Interior Protocols)

  • Use MD5 or SHA authentication on routing updates to ensure only trusted routers participate.

  • Example (OSPF):

    interface GigabitEthernet0/1
 ip ospf authentication message-digest
 ip ospf message-digest-key 1 md5 SECRET_KEY

✅ BGP

  • Use TCP MD5 authentication (neighbor x.x.x.x password) or TCP-AO (Authentication Option) for session protection.

  • Example (Cisco):

    router bgp 65000
 neighbor 192.0.2.1 password YOUR_SECRET

🔒 Purpose: Prevents unauthorized peers from forming sessions and injecting routes.

🧱 2. Access Control / Filtering

  • Passive Interfaces: Disable routing protocol advertisements on interfaces that don't need them.

  • Route Filtering: Use prefix-lists, distribute-lists, and route-maps to control what routes are sent or received.

  • Interface ACLs: Apply access control lists to limit routing protocol traffic to trusted IPs only.

🌐 3. Control Plane Protection

  • Use Control Plane Policing (CoPP) or Control Plane Protection (CPPr) to throttle or restrict routing protocol traffic (especially for BGP on edge routers).

  • This prevents CPU exhaustion from routing protocol floods or malformed packets.

🔄 4. TTL Security / BFD

  • TTL Security Hack (GTSM) for BGP:

    • Ensures that only neighbors within one hop can establish a session.

    • Mitigates TCP spoofing and off-path attacks.

  • BFD (Bidirectional Forwarding Detection):

    • Provides fast failure detection for dynamic routing sessions.

📊 5. Monitoring and Logging

  • Enable logging for neighbor state changes and route updates.

  • Use SNMP or NetFlow to monitor for anomalous routing activity.

  • Use tools like BGPmon, RIPE RIS, or RPKI validators for BGP monitoring and route validation.

🧩 6. Use RPKI and BGP Prefix Validation (for BGP)

  • Deploy RPKI (Resource Public Key Infrastructure) to cryptographically validate BGP route origin.

  • Prevents route hijacking by dropping invalid prefixes.

🏰 7. Segment and Harden the Routing Infrastructure

  • Use out-of-band management.

  • Limit physical and logical access to routers.

  • Apply least privilege principles and secure router credentials (no default passwords).

✅ Summary Table

Security MeasureProtocolsPurpose
MD5/SHA AuthenticationBGP, OSPF, RIPPeer validation
Route FilteringAllPrevent route leaks/attacks
CoPP/CPPrAllCPU protection
RPKIBGPOrigin validation
TTL Security (GTSM)BGPOne-hop neighbor validation
BFDAllFast failure detection
Logging & MonitoringAllAudit and alert
Passive InterfacesOSPF, RIP, EIGRPReduce exposure

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