# US 10,454,928 B2 · Apparatus and method for inssec packet generation

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- Number: US 10,454,928 B2
- Document ID: US10454928B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/333,906
- Filed: 2016-10-25
- Published: 2018-04-26
- Granted: 2019-10-22
- Earliest claimed: 2016-10-25
- Assignees: Cisco Technology, Inc.
- Applicants: Cisco Technology, Inc.
- Inventors: Thomas James Edsall
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10454928B2

## CPC

- H04L 63/0876: {based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint}
- H04L 12/462: {LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone}
- H04L 12/4641: {Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] (LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272)}
- H04L 63/0272: {Virtual private networks}
- H04L 63/0428: {wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload}
- H04L 69/16: Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
- H04L 2012/4629: {using multilayer switching, e.g. layer 3 switching}
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)

## Abstract

Techniques are provided herein to achieve data security and integrity using the cryptographic machinery of IEEE MACSec for TCP or UDP packets, for example, VxLAN, iVxLAN, and VxLAN-GPE packet. In particular, the disclosed techniques generate InsSec packets from received VxLAN based packets, in which the generated InsSec packets include an integrity checksum that that does not cover the MAC address of the packet.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An apparatus that generates an encrypted Virtual Extensible Local Area Network (VxLAN) packet for layer-2 data center interconnect, the apparatus comprising: a hardware network interface unit to send and receive packets from a network, wherein at least one of the received packets is a VxLAN based packet that at least includes: a Media Access Control (MAC) header, an Internet Protocol (IP) Header, either a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) header or a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) header, a VxLAN header, a payload data, and a cyclic redundancy check (CRC); a processor coupled to the hardware network interface unit, wherein the processor transforms the VxLAN packet into an encrypted VxLAN packet by at least performing the steps comprising: encrypting the payload data of the VxLAN packet via a form of Media Access Control Security (MACSec); inserting a MACSec header after the UDP or TCP header of the VxLAN packet; and inserting an integrity check value (ICV) between the encrypted payload and the CRC of the VAAN packet, wherein the ICV is configured to cover, so as to be derived as an integrity checksum of, at least the MACSec header and the encrypted payload but not a MAC address of the MAC header.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ICV is configured to cover, so as to be derived as an integrity checksum of, at least the MACSec header, the encrypted payload, and the UDP or TCP header, but not the MAC address of the MAC header.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ICV is configured to cover, so as to be derived as an integrity checksum of, at least the MACSec header, the encrypted payload, the UDP or TCP header, and the IP header but not the MAC address of the MAC header.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the MACSec header includes an EtherType field, wherein the MAC Header includes an EtherType field, wherein the IP header includes a protocol field, wherein the UDP or TCP header includes a UDP or TCP length field, and a layer-4 destination port field comprising a layer-4 destination port number, and wherein the processor transforms the VxLAN packet into the encrypted VxLAN packet by further performing the steps comprising:
copying the layer-4 destination port number from the UDP or TCP header into the MACSec EtherType field;
overwriting the layer-4 destination port number of the UDP or TCP header layer-4 destination port field with a predefined layer-4 security port number that indicates that the encrypted VxLAN packet is carrying a given type of secured payload;
updating the UDP or TCP length field to reflected added bytes; and
replacing the CRC with a new CRC;
wherein the operation of inserting the MACSec header comprises inserting a MACSec header after the UDP or TCP header of the VxLAN packet and before the VxLAN header.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The apparatus of claim 4, wherein prior to encrypting the payload data of the VxLAN packet through the use of a form of MACSec, the processor: calculates an offset to use in the encryption according to the fields of the VxLAN packet; and retrieves an encryption key by accessing an entry in a key store table using a corresponding table key, wherein the table key is selected from a group consisting of a packet outer destination IP address, a packet outer source IP address, a packet outer VLAN ID, and combinations thereof.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the processor calculates the offset by: setting the offset initially to 16 bytes when a VLAN tag is detected and setting the offset initially to 12 when no VLAN tag is detected; incrementing by 28 bytes if the packet is an IPv4 packet incrementing by 48 bytes if the packet is an IPv6 packet; incrementing by 8 bytes if the packet is a UDP packet; and incrementing by 20 bytes if the packet is a TCP packet.

### Claim 7 (depends on 5)

The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the processor:
receives a second packet from the hardware network interface unit;
determines whether the second packet is carrying a payload of the given type of secured payload by identifying whether the second packet has a UDP or TCP header that includes the predefined layer-4 security port number;
upon determining that the second packet includes the predefined layer-4 security port number, determine if there is a matching state in the key store table for the second packet;
upon determining that there is a matching state, decrypt the second packet and check the ICV; and
upon the ICV check passing, move the layer-4 destination port number from the MACSec EtherType field to the second packet's UDP or TCP header, remove the MACSec header from the second packet, correct the second packet's CRC, and pass the second packet to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) switch or router.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor resides within an Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) switch of an ACI fabric system.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the hardware network interface unit is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) switch or router, and wherein the processor is a physical layer (PHY) device.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the PHY device is an ASIC that is external to the ASIC switch or router.

### Claim 11

A method of generating an encrypted Virtual Extensible Local Area Network (VxLAN) packet for layer-2 data center interconnect, the method comprising: receiving packets from a network via a hardware network interface unit, wherein at least one of the received packets is a (VxLAN) based packet that at least includes: a Media Access Control (MAC) header, an Internet Protocol (IP) Header, either a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) header or a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) header, a VxLAN Header, a payload data, integrity check value (ICV) and a cyclic redundancy check (CRC), wherein the ICV is configured to cover, so as to be derived as an integrity checksum of, at least the MACSec header and the encrypted payload but not a MAC address of the MAC header; transforming, by a processor, the VxLAN packet into an encrypted VxLAN packet by at least performing the steps comprising: encrypting, by the processor, the payload data of the VxLAN packet via a form of Media Access Control Security (MACSec); inserting, by the processor, a MACSec header after the UDP or TCP header of the VxLAN packet; and inserting, by the processor, an integrity check value (ICV) between the encrypted payload and the CRC of the VXLAN packet, wherein the ICV is configured to cover at least the MACSec header and the encrypted payload but not a MAC address of the MAC header.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, wherein the ICV is configured to cover, so as to be derived as an integrity checksum of, at least the MACSec header, the encrypted payload, and the UDP or TCP header, but not the MAC address of the MAC header.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, wherein the ICV is configured to cover, so as to be derived as an integrity checksum of, at least the MACSec header, the encrypted payload, the UDP or TCP header, and the IP header but not the MAC address of the MAC header.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, wherein the MACSec header includes an EtherType field, wherein the MAC Header includes an EtherType field, wherein the IP header includes a protocol field, wherein the UDP or TCP header includes a UDP or TCP length field, and a layer-4 destination port field comprising a layer-4 destination port number, and wherein the transforming of the VxLAN packet into the encrypted VxLAN packet is performed by further performing at least the steps comprising: copying the layer-4 destination port number from the UDP or TCP header into the MACSec EtherType field; overwriting the layer-4 destination port number of the UDP or TCP header layer-4 destination port field with a predetermined layer-4 port number to indicate that the encrypted VxLAN packet is carrying a given type of secured payload; updating the UDP or TCP length field to reflected added bytes; and replacing the CRC with a new CRC; wherein the operation of inserting the MACSec header comprises inserting a MACSec header after the UDP or TCP header of the VxLAN packet and before the VxLAN header.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, further comprising: prior to the step of encrypting the payload data of the VxLAN packet through the use of a form of MACSec: calculating an offset to use in the encryption according to the fields of the VxLAN packet; and retrieving an encryption key by accessing an entry in a key store table using a corresponding table key, wherein the table key is selected from a group consisting of a packet outer destination IP address, a packet outer source IP address, a packet outer VLAN ID, and combinations thereof.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the step of calculating the offset comprises:
setting the offset initially to 16 bytes when a VLAN tag is detected and setting the offset initially to 12 when no VLAN tag is detected;
incrementing by 28 bytes if the packet is an IPv4 packet;
incrementing by 48 bytes if the packet is an IPv6 packet;
incrementing by 8 bytes if the packet is a UDP packet; and
incrementing by 20 bytes if the packet is a TCP packet.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, further comprising:
receiving a second packet via the hardware network interface unit;
determining whether the second packet is carrying a payload of the given type of secured payload by identifying whether the second packet has a UDP or TCP header that includes the predetermined layer-4 port number;
upon determining that the second packet includes the predetermined layer-4 port number, determining if is there is a matching state in the key store table for the second packet;
upon determining that there is a matching state, decrypting the second packet and checking the ICV; and
upon the ICV check passing, moving the layer-4 destination port number from the MACSec EtherType field to the second packet's UDP or TCP header, remove the MAC Sec header from the second packet, correct the second packet's CRC, and pass the second packet to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) switch or router.

### Claim 18

An apparatus for decrypting a Virtual Extensible Local Area Network (VxLAN) packet for layer-2 data center interconnect, the apparatus comprising:
a hardware network interface unit to send and receive packets from a network;
a processor coupled to the hardware network interface unit, wherein the processor:
determines whether at least one of the received packets is an encrypted VxLAN packet carrying a secured payload of a given type by identifying whether the packet has a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) header or a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) header that includes a predefined layer-4 security port number associated with the given type, wherein the encrypted VxLAN packet includes at least: a Media Access Control (MAC) header, an Internet Protocol (IP) Header, either a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) header or a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) header, a Media Access Control Security (MACSec) header, a VxLAN header, an encrypted payload, a integrity check value (ICV), and a cyclic redundancy check (CRC), wherein the ICV is configured to cover, so as to be derived as an integrity checksum of, at least the packet's Media Access Control Security (MACSec) header and the packet's encrypted payload but not a MAC address of the packet's MAC header, wherein the MACSec header includes an EtherType field to a second packet's UDP or TCP header;
upon determining that the encrypted VxLAN packet includes the predefined layer-4 security port number, decrypt the secure payload of the encrypted VxLAN packet and check the ICV; and
upon the ICV check passing, move the layer-4 destination port number from the MACSec EtherType field to the UDP or TCP header, remove the MACSec header, correct the CRC, and pass a resulting packet to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) switch or router.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the hardware network interface unit is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) switch or router, and wherein the processor is a physical layer (PHY) device.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the PHY device is an ASIC that is external to the ASIC switch or router.