IPv6 Firewall Support for Prevention of Distributed Denial of Service Attacks and Resource Management
IPv6 zone-based firewalls support the Protection of Distributed Denial of Service Attacks and the Firewall Resource Management features.
The Protection Against Distributed Denial of Service Attacks feature provides protection from Denial of Service (DoS) attacks at the global level (for all firewall sessions) and at the VPN routing and forwarding (VRF) level. With the Protection Against Distributed Denial of Service Attacks feature, you can configure the aggressive aging of firewall sessions, event rate monitoring of firewall sessions, half-opened connections limit, and global TCP synchronization (SYN) cookie protection to prevent distributed DoS attacks.
The Firewall Resource Management feature limits the number of VPN Routing and Forwarding (VRF) and global firewall sessions that are configured on a device.
This module describes how to configure the Protection of Distributed Denial of Service Attacks and the Firewall Resource Management features.
Your software release may not support all the features documented in this module. For the latest caveats and feature information, see
Bug Search Tool and the release notes for your platform and software release. To find information about the features documented in this module, and to see a list of the releases in which each feature is supported, see the feature information table at the end of this module.
Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to
www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.
Restrictions for IPv6 Firewall Support for Protection Against Distributed Denial of Service Attacks and Resource Management
The following restriction applies to the Firewall Resource Management feature:
After you configure the global-level or the virtual routing and forwarding (VRF)-level session limit and reconfigure the session limit, if the global-level or the VRF-level session limit is below the initially configured session count, no new session is added; however, no current session is dropped.
Information About IPv6 Firewall Support for Prevention of Distributed Denial of Service Attacks and Resource Management
Aggressive Aging of Firewall Sessions
The Aggressive Aging feature provides the firewall the capability of aggressively aging out sessions to make room for new sessions, thereby protecting the firewall session database from filling. The firewall protects its resources by removing idle sessions. The Aggressive Aging feature allows firewall sessions to exist for a shorter period of time defined by a timer called aging-out time.
The Aggressive Aging feature includes thresholds to define the start and end of the aggressive aging period—high and low watermarks. The aggressive aging period starts when the session table crosses the high watermark and ends when it falls below the low watermark. During the aggressive aging period, sessions will exist for a shorter period of time that you have configured by using the aging-out time. If an attacker initiates sessions at a rate that is faster than the rate at which the firewall terminates sessions, all resources that are allocated for creating sessions are used and all new connections are rejected. To prevent such attacks, you can configure the Aggressive Aging feature to aggressively age out sessions. This feature is disabled by default.
You can configure aggressive aging for half-opened sessions and total sessions at the box level (box refers to the entire firewall session table) and the virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) level. If you have configured this feature for total sessions, all sessions that consume firewall session resources are taken into account. Total sessions comprise established sessions, half-opened sessions, and sessions in the imprecise session database. (A TCP session that has not yet reached the established state is called a half-opened session.)
A firewall has two session databases: the session database and the imprecise session database. The session database contains sessions with 5-tuple (the source IP address, the destination IP address, the source port, the destination port, and the protocol). A tuple is an ordered list of elements. The imprecise session database contains sessions with fewer than 5-tuple (missing IP addresses, port numbers, and so on). In the case of aggressive aging for half-opened sessions, only half-opened sessions are considered.
You can configure an aggressive aging-out time for Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), TCP, and UDP firewall sessions. The aging-out time is set by default to the idle time.
Event Rate Monitoring Feature
The Event Rate Monitoring feature monitors the rate of predefined events in a zone. The Event Rate Monitoring feature includes basic threat detection, which is the ability of a security device to detect possible threats, anomalies, and attacks to resources inside the firewall and to take action against them. You can configure a basic threat detection rate for events. When the incoming rate of a certain type of event exceeds the configured threat detection rate, event rate monitoring considers this event as a threat and takes action to stop the threat. Threat detection inspects events only on the ingress zone (if the Event Rate Monitoring feature is enabled on the ingress zone).
The network administrator is informed about the potential threats via an alert message (syslog or high-speed logger [HSL]) and can take actions such as detecting the attack vector, detecting the zone from which the attack is coming, or configuring devices in the network to block certain behaviors or traffic.
The Event Rate Monitoring feature monitors the following types of events:
Firewall drops due to basic firewall checks failure—This can include zone or zone-pair check failures, or firewall policies configured with the drop action, and so on.
Firewall drops due to Layer 4 inspection failure—This can include TCP inspections that have failed because the first TCP packet is not a synchronization (SYN) packet.
TCP SYN cookie attack—This can include counting the number of SYN packets that are dropped and the number of SYN cookies that are sent as a spoofing attack.
The Event Rate Monitoring feature monitors the average rate and the burst rate of different events. Each event type has a rate object that is controlled by an associated rate that has a configurable parameter set (the average threshold, the burst threshold, and a time period). The time period is divided into time slots; each time slot is 1/30th of the time period.
The average rate is calculated for every event type. Each rate object holds 30 completed sampling values plus one value to hold the current ongoing sampling period. The current sampling value replaces the oldest calculated value and the average is recalculated. The average rate is calculated during every time period. If the average rate exceeds the average threshold, the Event Rate Monitoring feature will consider this as a possible threat, update the statistics, and inform the network administrator.
The burst rate is implemented by using the token bucket algorithm. For each time slot, the token bucket is filled with tokens. For each event that occurs (of a specific event type), a token is removed from the bucket. An empty bucket means that the burst threshold is reached, and the administrator receives an alarm through the syslog or HSL. You can view the threat detection statistics and learn about possible threats to various events in the zone from the output of theshow policy-firewall stats zone command.
You must first enable basic threat detection by using the
threat-detection basic-threat command. Once basic threat detection is configured, you can configure the threat detection rate. To configure the threat detection rate, use the
threat-detection rate command.
The following table describes the basic threat detection default settings that are applicable if the Event Rate Monitoring feature is enabled.
Table 1 Basic Threat Detection Default Settings
Packet Drop Reason
Threat Detection Settings
Basic firewall drops
average-rate 400 packets per second (pps)
burst-rate 1600 pps
rate-interval 600 seconds
Inspection-based firewall drops
average-rate 400 pps
burst-rate 1600 pps
rate-interval 600 seconds
SYN attack firewall drops
average-rate 100 pps
burst-rate 200 pps
rate-interval 600 seconds
Half-Opened Connections Limit
The firewall session table supports the limiting of half-opened firewall connections. Limiting the number of half-opened sessions will defend the firewall against attacks that might fill the firewall session table at the per-box level or at the virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) level with half-opened sessions and prevent sessions from being established. The half-opened connection limit can be configured for Layer 4 protocols, Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), TCP, and UDP. The limit set to the number of UDP half-opened sessions will not affect the TCP or ICMP half-opened sessions. When the configured half-opened session limit is exceeded, all new sessions are rejected and a log message is generated, either in syslog or in the high-speed logger (HSL).
The following sessions are considered as half-opened sessions:
TCP sessions that have not completed the three-way handshake.
UDP sessions that have only one packet detected in the UDP flow.
ICMP sessions that do not receive a reply to the ICMP echo request or the ICMP time-stamp request.
TCP SYN-Flood Attacks
You can configure the global TCP SYN-flood limit to limit SYN flood attacks. TCP SYN-flooding attacks are a type of denial of service (DoS) attack. When the configured TCP SYN-flood limit is reached, the firewall verifies the source of sessions before creating more sessions. Usually, TCP SYN packets are sent to a targeted end host or a range of subnet addresses behind the firewall. These TCP SYN packets have spoofed source IP addresses. A spoofing attack is when a person or program tries to use false data to gain access to resources in a network. TCP SYN flooding can take up all resources on a firewall or an end host, thereby causing denial of service to legitimate traffic. You can configure TCP SYN-flood protection at the VRF level and the zone level.
SYN flood attacks are divided into two types:
Host flood—SYN flood packets are sent to a single host intending to utilize all resources on that host.
Firewall session table flood—SYN flood packets are sent to a range of addresses behind the firewall, with the intention of exhausting the session table resources on the firewall, thereby denying resources to the legitimate traffic going through the firewall.
Firewall Resource Management
Resource Management limits the level of usage of shared resources on a device. Shared resources on a device include:
Bandwidth
Connection states
Memory usage (per table)
Number of sessions or calls
Packets per second
Ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) entries
The Firewall Resource Management feature extends the zone-based firewall resource management from the class level to the VRF level and the global level. Class-level resource management provides resource protection for firewall sessions at a class level. For example, parameters such as the maximum session limit, the session rate limit, and the incomplete session limit protect firewall resources (for example, chunk memory) and keep these resources from being used up by a single class.
When virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) instances share the same policy, a firewall session setup request from one VRF instance can make the total session count reach the maximum limit. When one VRF consumes the maximum amount of resources on a device, it becomes difficult for other VRF instances to share device resources. To limit the number of VRF firewall sessions, you can use the Firewall Resource Management feature.
At the global level, the Firewall Resource Management feature helps limit the usage of resources at the global routing domain by firewall sessions.
At the virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) level, the Firewall Resource Management feature tracks the firewall session count for each VRF instance. At the global level, the firewall resource management tracks the total firewall session count at the global routing domain and not at the device level. In both the VRF and global levels, session count is the sum of opened sessions, half-opened sessions, and sessions in the imprecise firewall session database. A TCP session that has not yet reached the established state is called a half-opened session.
A firewall has two session databases: the session database and the imprecise session database. The session database contains sessions with 5-tuple (source IP address, destination IP address, source port, destination port, and protocol). A tuple is an ordered list of elements. The imprecise session database contains sessions with fewer than 5-tuple (missing IP addresses, port numbers, and so on).
The following rules apply to the configuration of a session limit:
The class-level session limit can exceed the global limit.
The class-level session limit can exceed its associated VRF session maximum.
The sum of the VRF limit, including the global context, can be greater than the hardcoded session limit.
Session Rate
The session rate is the rate at which sessions are established at any given time interval. You can define maximum and minimum session rate limits. When the session rate exceeds the maximum specified rate, the firewall starts rejecting new session setup requests.
From the resource management perspective, setting the maximum and minimum session rate limit helps protect Cisco Packet Processor from being overwhelmed when numerous firewall session setup requests are received.
Incomplete or Half-Opened Sessions
Incomplete sessions are half-opened sessions. Any resource used by an incomplete session is counted, and any growth in the number of incomplete sessions is limited by setting the maximum session limit.
Firewall Resource Management Sessions
The following rules apply to firewall resource management sessions:
By default, the session limit for opened and half-opened sessions is unlimited.
Opened or half-opened sessions are limited by parameters and counted separately.
Opened or half-opened session count includes Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), TCP, or UDP sessions.
You can limit the number and rate of opened sessions.
You can only limit the number of half-opened sessions.
How to Configure IPv6 Firewall Support for Prevention of Distributed Denial of Service Attacks and Resource Management
Configuring an IPv6 Firewall
The steps to configure an IPv4 firewall and an IPv6 firewall are the same. To configure an IPv6 firewall, you must configure the class map in such a way that only an IPv6 address family is matched.
The
match protocol
command applies to both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic and can be included in either an IPv4 policy or an IPv6 policy.
SUMMARY STEPS
1.enable
2.configure terminal
3.vrf-definition
vrf-name
4.address-family ipv6
5.exit-address-family
6.exit
7.parameter-map type inspect
parameter-map-name
8.sessions maximum
sessions
9.exit
10.ipv6 unicast-routing
11.ip port-map
appl-name port
port-num
list
list-name
12.ipv6 access-list
access-list-name
13.permit ipv6 any any
14.exit
15.class-map type inspect match-all
class-map-name
16.match access-group name
access-group-name
17.match protocol
protocol-name
18.exit
19.policy-map type inspect
policy-map-name
20.class type inspect
class-map-name
21.inspect
[parameter-map-name]
22.end
DETAILED STEPS
Command or Action
Purpose
Step 1
enable
Example:
Device> enable
Enters privileged EXEC mode.
Enter your password if prompted.
Step 2
configure terminal
Example:
Device# configure terminal
Enters global configuration mode.
Step 3
vrf-definition
vrf-name
Example:
Device(config)# vrf-definition VRF1
Configures a virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) routing table instance and enters VRF configuration mode.
Step 4
address-family ipv6
Example:
Device(config-vrf)# address-family ipv6
Enters VRF address family configuration mode and configures sessions that carry standard IPv6 address prefixes.
Step 5
exit-address-family
Example:
Device(config-vrf-af)# exit-address-family
Exits VRF address family configuration mode and enters VRF configuration mode.
Step 6
exit
Example:
Device(config-vrf)# exit
Exits VRF configuration mode and enters global configuration mode.
Step 7
parameter-map type inspect
parameter-map-name
Example:
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect ipv6-param-map
Enables a global inspect-type parameter map for the firewall to connect thresholds, timeouts, and other parameters that pertain to the inspect action, and enters parameter-map type inspect configuration mode.
Step 8
sessions maximum
sessions
Example:
Device(config-profile)# sessions maximum 10000
Sets the maximum number of allowed sessions that can exist on a zone pair.
Step 9
exit
Example:
Device(config-profile)# exit
Exits parameter-map type inspect configuration mode and enters global configuration mode.
Step 10
ipv6 unicast-routing
Example:
Device(config)# ipv6 unicast-routing
Enables the forwarding of IPv6 unicast datagrams.
Step 11
ip port-map
appl-name port
port-num
list
list-name
Example:
Device(config)# ip port-map ftp port 8090 list ipv6-acl
Establishes a port to application mapping (PAM) by using the IPv6 access control list (ACL).
Step 12
ipv6 access-list
access-list-name
Example:
Device(config)# ipv6 access-list ipv6-acl
Defines an IPv6 access list and enters IPv6 access list configuration mode.
Step 13
permit ipv6 any any
Example:
Device(config-ipv6-acl)# permit ipv6 any any
Sets permit conditions for an IPv6 access list.
Step 14
exit
Example:
Device(config-ipv6-acl)# exit
Exits IPv6 access list configuration mode and enters global configuration mode.
Step 15
class-map type inspect match-all
class-map-name
Example:
Device(config)# class-map type inspect match-all ipv6-class
Creates an application-specific inspect type class map and enters QoS class-map configuration mode.
Step 16
match access-group name
access-group-name
Example:
Device(config-cmap)# match access-group name ipv6-acl
Configures the match criteria for a class map on the basis of the specified ACL.
Step 17
match protocol
protocol-name
Example:
Device(config-cmap)# match protocol tcp
Configures a match criterion for a class map on the basis of the specified protocol.
Step 18
exit
Example:
Device(config-cmap)# exit
Exits QoS class-map configuration mode and enters global configuration mode.
Step 19
policy-map type inspect
policy-map-name
Example:
Device(config)# policy-map type inspect ipv6-policy
Creates a protocol-specific inspect type policy map and enters QoS policy-map configuration mode.
Step 20
class type inspect
class-map-name
Example:
Device(config-pmap)# class type inspect ipv6-class
Specifies the traffic class on which an action is to be performed and enters QoS policy-map class configuration mode.
Step 21
inspect
[parameter-map-name]
Example:
Device(config-pmap-c)# inspect ipv6-param-map
Enables stateful packet inspection.
Step 22
end
Example:
Device(config-pmap-c)# end
Exits QoS policy-map class configuration mode and enters privileged EXEC mode.
Configuring the Aggressive Aging of Firewall Sessions
You can configure the Aggressive Aging feature for per-box (per-box refers to the entire firewall session table), default-VRF, and per-VRF firewall sessions. Before the Aggressive Aging feature can work, you must configure the aggressive aging and the aging-out time of firewall sessions.
Perform the following tasks to configure the aggressive aging of firewall sessions.
Configures a global parameter map for connecting thresholds and timeouts and enters parameter-map type inspect configuration mode.
Based on your release, the
parameter-map type inspect-global
and the
parameter-map type inspect global
commands are supported. You cannot configure both these commands together.
Skip Steps 4 and 5 if you configure the
parameter-map type inspect-global
command.
Note
If you configure the
parameter-map type inspect-global
command,
per-box configurations are not supported because, by default, all
per-box configurations apply to all firewall sessions.
Device(config-profile)# per-box aggressive-aging high 1700 low 1300
Configures the aggressive aging limit of total sessions.
Step 6
exit
Example:
Device(config-profile)# exit
Exits parameter-map type inspect configuration mode and enters global configuration mode.
Step 7
parameter-map type inspect
parameter-map-name
Example:
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect pmap1
Configures an inspect-type parameter map for connecting thresholds, timeouts, and other parameters pertaining to the
inspect action and enters parameter-map type inspect configuration mode.
Specifies how long the software will wait for a TCP session to reach the established state before dropping the session.
After aggressive aging is enabled, the SYN wait timer of the oldest TCP connections are reset from the default to the configured ageout time. In this example, instead of waiting for 30 seconds for connections to timeout, the timeout of the oldest TCP connections are set to 10 seconds. Aggressive aging is disabled when the connections drop below the low watermark.
Step 9
end
Example:
Device(config-profile)# end
Exits parameter-map type inspect configuration mode and enters privileged EXEC mode.
Step 10
show policy-firewall stats global
Example:
Device# show policy-firewall stats global
Displays global firewall statistics information.
Configuring Aggressive Aging for a Default VRF
When you configure the
max-incomplete aggressive-aging command, it applies to the default VRF.
Configures a global parameter map for connecting thresholds and timeouts and enters parameter-map type inspect configuration mode.
Based on your release, the
parameter-map type inspect-global
and the
parameter-map type inspect global
commands are supported. You cannot configure both these commands together.
Skip Step 5 if you configure the
parameter-map type inspect-global
command.
Note
If you configure the
parameter-map type inspect-global
command,
per-box
configurations are not supported because, by default, all
per-box configurations apply to all firewall sessions.
Device(config-profile)# session total 1000 aggressive-aging high percent 80 low percent 60
Configures the total limit and the aggressive aging limit for total firewall sessions.
Step 6
exit
Example:
Device(config-profile)# exit
Exits parameter-map type inspect configuration mode and enters global configuration mode.
Step 7
parameter-map type inspect
parameter-map-name
Example:
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect pmap1
Configures an inspect-type parameter map for connecting thresholds, timeouts, and other parameters pertaining to the
inspect action and enters parameter-map type inspect configuration mode.
Specifies how long the software will wait for a TCP session to reach the established state before dropping the session.
After aggressive aging is enabled, the SYN wait timer of the oldest TCP connections are reset from the default to the configured ageout time. In this example, instead of waiting for 30 seconds for connections to timeout, the timeout of the oldest TCP connections are set to 10 seconds. Aggressive aging is disabled when the connections drop below the low watermark.
Step 9
end
Example:
Device(config-profile)# end
Exits parameter-map type inspect configuration mode and enters privileged EXEC mode.
Device(config-profile)# session total 1000 aggressive-aging high percent 80 low percent 60
Configures the total session limit and the aggressive aging limit for the total sessions.
You can configure the total session limit as an absolute value or as a percentage.
Step 11
alert on
Example:
Device(config-profile)# alert on
Enables the console display of stateful packet inspection alert messages.
Step 12
exit
Example:
Device(config-profile)# exit
Exits parameter-map type inspect configuration mode and enters global configuration mode.
Step 13
Enter one of the following commands:
parameter-map type inspect-global
parameter-map type inspect global
Example:
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect-global
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect global
Configures a global parameter map and enters parameter-map type inspect configuration mode.
Based on your release, the
parameter-map type inspect-global
and the
parameter-map type inspect global
commands are supported. You cannot configure both these commands together.
Skip Step 14 if you configure the
parameter-map type inspect-global
command.
Note
If you configure the
parameter-map type inspect-global
command,
per-box
configurations are not supported because, by default, all
per-box
configurations apply to all firewall sessions.
Exits parameter-map type inspect configuration mode and enters global configuration mode.
Step 16
parameter-map type inspect
parameter-map-name
Example:
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect pmap1
Configures an inspect-type parameter map for connecting thresholds, timeouts, and other parameters pertaining to the
inspect action and enters parameter-map type inspect configuration mode.
Specifies how long the software will wait for a TCP session to reach the established state before dropping the session.
When aggressive aging is enabled, the SYN wait timer of the oldest TCP connections are reset from the default to the configured ageout time. In this example, instead of waiting for 30 seconds for connections to timeout, the timeout of the oldest TCP connections are set to 10 seconds. Aggressive aging is disabled when the connections drop below the low watermark.
Step 19
exit
Example:
Device(config-profile)# exit
Exits parameter-map type inspect configuration mode and enters global configuration mode.
Step 20
policy-map type inspectpolicy-map-name
Example:
Device(config)# policy-map type inspect ddos-fw
Creates a protocol-specific inspect type policy map and enters QoS policy-map configuration mode.
Step 21
class type inspect match-anyclass-map-name
Example:
Device(config-pmap)# class type inspect match-any ddos-class
Specifies the traffic (class) on which an action is to be performed and enters QoS policy-map class configuration mode.
Step 22
inspectparameter-map-name
Example:
Device(config-pmap-c)# inspect pmap1
Enables stateful packet inspection for the parameter map.
Step 23
end
Example:
Device(config-pmap-c)# end
Exits QoS policy-map class configuration mode and enters privileged EXEC mode.
Step 24
show policy-firewall stats vrfvrf-pmap-name
Example:
Device# show policy-firewall stats vrf vrf1-pmap
Displays VRF-level policy firewall statistics.
Example
The following is sample output from the
show policy-firewall stats vrf vrf1-pmap command:
Device# show policy-firewall stats vrf vrf1-pmap
VRF: vrf1, Parameter-Map: vrf1-pmap
Interface reference count: 2
Total Session Count(estab + half-open): 80, Exceed: 0
Total Session Aggressive Aging Period Off, Event Count: 0
Half Open
Protocol Session Cnt Exceed
-------- ----------- ------
All 0 0
UDP 0 0
ICMP 0 0
TCP 0 0
TCP Syn Flood Half Open Count: 0, Exceed: 116
Half Open Aggressive Aging Period Off, Event Count: 0
Configuring the Aging Out of Firewall Sessions
You can configure the aging out of ICMP, TCP, or UDP firewall sessions.
SUMMARY STEPS
1.enable
2.configure terminal
3.Enter one of the following commands:
parameter-map type inspect-global
parameter-map type inspect global
4.vrfvrf-nameinspectvrf-pmap-name
5.exit
6.parameter-map type inspect
parameter-map-name
7.tcp idle-timeseconds[ageout-timeseconds]
8.tcp synwait-time
seconds
[ageout-time
seconds]
9.exit
10.policy-map type inspectpolicy-map-name
11.class type inspect match-anyclass-map-name
12.inspectparameter-map-name
13.end
14.show policy-firewall stats vrfvrf-pmap-name
DETAILED STEPS
Command or Action
Purpose
Step 1
enable
Example:
Device> enable
Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Enter your password if prompted.
Step 2
configure terminal
Example:
Device# configure terminal
Enters global configuration mode.
Step 3
Enter one of the following commands:
parameter-map type inspect-global
parameter-map type inspect global
Example:
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect-global
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspectglobal
Configures a global parameter map and enters parameter-map type inspect configuration mode.
Based on your release, the
parameter-map type inspect-global
and the
parameter-map type inspect global
commands are supported. You cannot configure both these commands together.
Skip Step 4 if you configure the
parameter-map type inspect-global
command.
Note
If you configure the
parameter-map type inspect-global
command,
per-box
configurations are not supported because, by default, all
per-box
configurations apply to all firewall sessions.
Exits parameter-map type inspect configuration mode and enters global configuration mode.
Step 6
parameter-map type inspect
parameter-map-name
Example:
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect pmap1
Configures an inspect-type parameter map for connecting thresholds, timeouts, and other parameters pertaining to the
inspect action and enters parameter-map type inspect configuration mode.
Configures the timeout for idle TCP sessions and the aggressive aging-out time for TCP sessions.
You can also configure the
tcp finwait-time
command to specify how long a TCP session will be managed after the firewall detects a finish (FIN) exchange, or you can configure the
tcp synwait-time
command to specify how long the software will wait for a TCP session to reach the established state before dropping the session.
Specifies how long the software will wait for a TCP session to reach the established state before dropping the session.
When aggressive aging is enabled, the SYN wait timer of the oldest TCP connections are reset from the default to the configured ageout time. In this example, instead of waiting for 30 seconds for connections to timeout, the timeout of the oldest TCP connections are set to 10 seconds. Aggressive aging is enabled when the connections drop below the low watermark.
Step 9
exit
Example:
Device(config-profile)# exit
Exits parameter-map type inspect configuration mode and enters global configuration mode.
Step 10
policy-map type inspectpolicy-map-name
Example:
Device(config)# policy-map type inspect ddos-fw
Creates a protocol-specific inspect type policy map and enters QoS policy-map configuration mode.
Step 11
class type inspect match-anyclass-map-name
Example:
Device(config-pmap)# class type inspect match-any ddos-class
Specifies the traffic class on which an action is to be performed and enters QoS policy-map class configuration mode.
Step 12
inspectparameter-map-name
Example:
Device(config-pmap-c)# inspect pmap1
Enables stateful packet inspection for the parameter map.
Step 13
end
Example:
Device(config-pmap-c)# end
Exits QoS policy-map class configuration mode and enters privileged EXEC mode.
Step 14
show policy-firewall stats vrfvrf-pmap-name
Example:
Device# show policy-firewall stats vrf vrf1-pmap
Displays VRF-level policy firewall statistics.
Example
The following is sample output from the
show policy-firewall stats vrf vrf1-pmap command:
Device# show policy-firewall stats vrf vrf1-pmap
VRF: vrf1, Parameter-Map: vrf1-pmap
Interface reference count: 2
Total Session Count(estab + half-open): 270, Exceed: 0
Total Session Aggressive Aging Period Off, Event Count: 0
Half Open
Protocol Session Cnt Exceed
-------- ----------- ------
All 0 0
UDP 0 0
ICMP 0 0
TCP 0 0
TCP Syn Flood Half Open Count: 0, Exceed: 12
Half Open Aggressive Aging Period Off, Event Count: 0
Device(config)# zone-pair security private2public source private destination public
Creates a zone pair and enters security zone-pair configuration mode.
Step 14
end
Example:
Device(config-sec-zone-pair)# end
Exits security zone-pair configuration mode and enters privileged EXEC mode.
Step 15
show policy-firewall stats zone
Example:
Device# show policy-firewall stats zone
Displays policy firewall statistics at the zone level.
Configuring the per-Box Half-Opened Session Limit
Per-box refers to the entire firewall session table. Any configuration that follows the
parameter-map type inspect-global command applies to the box.
SUMMARY STEPS
1.enable
2.configure terminal
3.Enter one of the following commands:
parameter-map type inspect-global
parameter-map type inspect global
4.alert on
5.per-box max-incompletenumber
6.session totalnumber
7.end
8.show policy-firewall stats global
DETAILED STEPS
Command or Action
Purpose
Step 1
enable
Example:
Device> enable
Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Enter your password if prompted.
Step 2
configure terminal
Example:
Device# configure terminal
Enters global configuration mode.
Step 3
Enter one of the following commands:
parameter-map type inspect-global
parameter-map type inspect global
Example:
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect-global
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect global
Configures a global parameter map for connecting thresholds and timeouts and enters parameter-map type inspect configuration mode.
Based on your release, the
parameter-map type inspect-global
and the
parameter-map type inspect global
commands are supported. You cannot configure both these commands together.
Skip to Steps 5 and 6 if you configure the
parameter-map type inspect-global
command.
Note
If you configure the
parameter-map type inspect-global
command,
per-box
configurations are not supported because, by default, all
per-box
configurations apply to all firewall sessions.
Step 4
alert on
Example:
Device(config-profile)# alert on
Enables the console display of stateful packet inspection alert messages.
Configures the maximum number of half-opened connections for the firewall session table.
Step 6
session totalnumber
Example:
Device(config-profile)# session total 34500
Configures the total session limit for the firewall session table.
Step 7
end
Example:
Device(config-profile)# end
Exits parameter-map type inspect configuration mode and enters privileged EXEC mode.
Step 8
show policy-firewall stats global
Example:
Device# show policy-firewall stats global
Displays global firewall statistics information.
Configuring the Half-Opened Session Limit for an Inspect-VRF Parameter Map
SUMMARY STEPS
1.enable
2.configure terminal
3.parameter-map type inspect-vrfvrf-name
4.alert on
5.max-incompletenumber
6.session totalnumber
7.exit
8.Enter one of the following commands:
parameter-map type inspect-global
parameter-map type inspect global
9.alert on
10.vrfvrf-nameinspectvrf-pmap-name
11.end
12.show policy-firewall stats vrfvrf-pmap-name
DETAILED STEPS
Command or Action
Purpose
Step 1
enable
Example:
Device> enable
Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Enter your password if prompted.
Step 2
configure terminal
Example:
Device# configure terminal
Enters global configuration mode.
Step 3
parameter-map type inspect-vrfvrf-name
Example:
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect-vrf vrf1-pmap
Configures an inspect-VRF parameter map and enters parameter-map type inspect configuration mode.
Step 4
alert on
Example:
Device(config-profile)# alert on
Enables the console display of stateful packet inspection alert messages.
Step 5
max-incompletenumber
Example:
Device(config-profile)# max-incomplete 2000
Configures the maximum number of half-opened connections per VRF.
Step 6
session totalnumber
Example:
Device(config-profile)# session total 34500
Configures the total session limit for a VRF.
Step 7
exit
Example:
Device(config-profile)# exit
Exits parameter-map type inspect configuration mode and enters global configuration mode.
Step 8
Enter one of the following commands:
parameter-map type inspect-global
parameter-map type inspect global
Example:
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect-global
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect global
Configures a global parameter map for connecting thresholds and timeouts and enters parameter-map type inspect configuration mode.
Based on your release, you can use either the
parameter-map type inspect-global
command or the
parameter-map type inspect global
command. You cannot configure both these commands together.
Skip Step 10 if you configure the
parameter-map type inspect-global command.
Note
If you configure the
parameter-map type inspect-global
command,
per-box
configurations are not supported because, by default, all
per-box
configurations apply to all firewall sessions.
Step 9
alert on
Example:
Device(config-profile)# alert on
Enables the console display of stateful packet inspection alert messages.
Exits parameter-map type inspect configuration mode and enters privileged EXEC mode.
Step 12
show policy-firewall stats vrfvrf-pmap-name
Example:
Device# show policy-firewall stats vrf vrf1-pmap
Displays VRF-level policy firewall statistics.
Configuring the Global TCP SYN Flood Limit
SUMMARY STEPS
1.enable
2.configureterminal
3.Enter one of the following commands:
parameter-maptypeinspect-global
parameter-maptypeinspect global
4.alerton
5.per-box tcpsyn-floodlimitnumber
6.end
7.showpolicy-firewallstatsvrfglobal
DETAILED STEPS
Command or Action
Purpose
Step 1
enable
Example:
Device> enable
Enables privileged EXEC mode.
Enter your password if prompted.
Step 2
configureterminal
Example:
Device# configure terminal
Enters global configuration mode.
Step 3
Enter one of the following commands:
parameter-maptypeinspect-global
parameter-maptypeinspect global
Example:
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect-global
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect global
Configures a global parameter map and enters parameter-map type inspect configuration mode.
Based on your release, you can configure either the
parameter-map type inspect-global
command or the
parameter-map type inspect global
command. You cannot configure both these commands together.
Skip Step 5 if you configure the
parameter-map type inspect-global
command.
Note
If you configure the
parameter-map type inspect-global
command,
per-box
configurations are not supported because, by default, all
per-box
configurations apply to all firewall sessions.
Step 4
alerton
Example:
Device(config-profile)# alert on
Enables the console display of stateful packet inspection alert messages.
Exits parameter-map type inspect configuration mode and enters global configuration mode.
Step 10
parameter-maptypeinspect-vrfvrf-default
Example:
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect-vrf vrf-default
Configures a default inspect VRF-type parameter map.
Step 11
sessiontotalnumber
Example:
Device(config-profile)# session total 6000
Configures the total number of sessions.
You can configure the
sessiontotal command for an inspect VRF-type parameter map and for a global parameter map. When you configure the
sessiontotal command for an inspect VRF-type parameter map, the sessions are associated with an inspect VRF-type parameter map. The
sessiontotal command is applied to the global routing domain when it is configured for a global parameter-map.
Step 12
tcpsyn-floodlimitnumber
Example:
Device(config-profile)# tcp syn-flood limit 7000
Limits the number of TCP half-opened sessions that trigger SYN cookie processing for new SYN packets.
Step 13
end
Example:
Device(config-profile)# end
Exits parameter-map type inspect configuration mode and enters privileged EXEC mode.
Configuration Examples for IPv6 Firewall Support for Prevention of Distributed Denial of Service Attacks and Resource Management
Example: Configuring an IPv6 Firewall
Device# configure terminal
Device(config)# vrf-definition VRF1
Device(config-vrf)# address-family ipv6
Device(config-vrf-af)# exit-address-family
Device(config-vrf)# exit
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect ipv6-param-map
Device(config-profile)# sessions maximum 10000
Device(config-profile)# exit
Device(config)# ipv6 unicast-routing
Device(config)# ip port-map ftp port 8090 list ipv6-acl
Device(config)# ipv6 access-list ipv6-acl
Device(config-ipv6-acl)# permit ipv6 any any
Device(config-ipv6-acl)# exit
Device(config)# class-map type inspect match-all ipv6-class
Device(config-cmap)# match access-group name ipv6-acl
Device(config-cmap)# match protocol tcp
Device(config-cmap)# exit
Device(config)# policy-map type inspect ipv6-policy
Device(config-pmap)# class type inspect ipv6-class
Device(config-pmap-c)# inspect ipv6-param-map
Device(config-pmap-c)# end
Example: Configuring the Aggressive Aging of Firewall Sessions
Example: Configuring per-Box Aggressive Aging
Device# configure terminal
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect global
Device(config-profile)# per-box max-incomplete 2000 aggressive-aging 1500 low 1200
Device(config-profile)# per-box aggressive-aging high 1700 low 1300
Device(config-profile)# exit
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect pmap1
Device(config-profile)# tcp synwait-time 30 ageout-time 10
Device(config-profile)# end
Example: Configuring Aggressive Aging for a Default VRF
Device# configure terminal
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect global
Device(config-profile)# max-incomplete 2000 aggressive-aging high 1500 low 1200
Device(config-profile)# session total 1000 aggressive-aging high percent 80 low percent 60
Device(config-profile)# exit
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect pmap1
Device(config-profile)# tcp synwait-time 30 ageout-time 10
Device(config-profile)# end
Example: Configuring per-VRF Aggressive Aging
Device# configure terminal
Device(config)# ip vrf ddos-vrf1
Device(config-vrf)# rd 100:2
Device(config-vrf)# route-target export 100:2
Device(config-vrf)# route-target import 100:2
Device(config-vrf)# exit
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect-vrf vrf1-pmap
Device(config-profile)# max-incomplete 3455 aggressive-aging high 2345 low 2255
Device(config-profile)# session total 1000 aggressive-aging high percent 80 low percent 60
Device(config-profile)# alert on
Device(config-profile)# exit
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect global
Device(config-profile)# vrf vrf1 inspect vrf1-pmap
Device(config-profile)# exit
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect pmap1
Device(config-profile)# tcp idle-time 3000 ageout-time 100
Device(config-profile)# tcp synwait-time 30 ageout-time 10
Device(config-profile)# exit
Device(config)# policy-map type inspect ddos-fw
Device(config-pmap)# class type inspect match-any ddos-class
Device(config-pmap-c)# inspect pmap1
Device(config-profile)# end
Example: Configuring the Aging Out of Firewall Sessions
Device# configure terminal
Device(config-profile)# exit
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect global
Device(config-profile)# vrf vrf1 inspect vrf1-pmap
Device(config-profile)# exit
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect pmap1
Device(config-profile)# tcp idle-time 3000 ageout-time 100
Device(config-profile)# tcp synwait-time 30 ageout-time 10
Device(config-profile)# exit
Device(config)# policy-map type inspect ddos-fw
Device(config-profile)# class type inspect match-any ddos-class
Device(config-profile)# inspect pmap1
Device(config-profile)# end
Device> enable
Device# configure terminal
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect zone zone-pmap1
Device(config-profile)# alert on
Device(config-profile)# threat-detection basic-threat
Device(config-profile)# threat-detection rate fw-drop average-time-frame 600 average-threshold 100 burst-threshold 100
Device(config-profile)# threat-detection rate inspect-drop average-time-frame 600 average-threshold 100 burst-threshold 100
Device(config-profile)# threat-detection rate syn-attack average-time-frame 600 average-threshold 100 burst-threshold 100
Device(config-profile)# exit
Device(config)# zone security public
Device(config-sec-zone)# protection zone-pmap1
Device(config-sec-zone)# exit
Device(config)# zone-pair security private2public source private destination public
Device(config-sec-zone-pair)# end
Example: Configuring the per-Box Half-Opened Session Limit
Device# configure terminal
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect global
Device(config-profile)# alert on
Device(config-profile)# per-box max-incomplete 12345
Device(config-profile)# session total 34500
Device(config-profile)# end
Example: Configuring the Half-Opened Session Limit for an Inspect VRF Parameter Map
Device# configure terminal
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect vrf vrf1-pmap
Device(config-profile)# alert on
Device(config-profile)# max-incomplete 3500
Device(config-profile)# session total 34500
Device(config-profile)# exit
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect global
Device(config-profile)# alert on
Device(config-profile)# vrf vrf1 inspect vrf1-pmap
Device(config-profile)# end
Example: Configuring the Global TCP SYN Flood Limit
Device# configure terminal
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect global
Device(config-profile)# alert on
Device(config-profile)# per-box tcp syn-flood limit 500
Device(config-profile)# end
Example: Configuring Firewall Resource Management
Device# configure terminal
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect-vrf vrf1-pmap
Device(config-profile)# session total 1000
Device(config-profile)# tcp syn-flood limit 2000
Device(config-profile)# exit
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect-global
Device(config-profile)# vrf vrf1 inspect pmap1
Device(config-profile)# exit
Device(config)# parameter-map type inspect-vrf vrf-default
Device(config-profile)# session total 6000
Device(config-profile)# tcp syn-flood limit 7000
Device(config-profile)# end
Additional References for IPv6 Firewall Support for Prevention of Distributed Denial of Service Attacks and Resource Management
The Cisco Support and Documentation website provides online resources to download documentation, software, and tools. Use these resources to install and configure the software and to troubleshoot and resolve technical issues with Cisco products and technologies. Access to most tools on the Cisco Support and Documentation website requires a Cisco.com user ID and password.
Feature Information for IPv6 Firewall Support for Prevention of Distributed Denial of Service Attacks and Resource Management
The following table provides release information about the feature or features described in this module. This table lists only the software release that introduced support for a given feature in a given software release train. Unless noted otherwise, subsequent releases of that software release train also support that feature.
Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to
www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.
Table 2 Feature Information for IPv6 Firewall Support for Prevention of Distributed Denial of Service Attacks and Resource Management
Feature Name
Releases
Feature Information
IPv6 Firewall Support for Prevention of Distributed Denial of Service Attacks and Resource Management
Cisco IOS XE Release 3.7S
IPv6 zone-based firewalls support the Protection of Distributed Denial of Service Attacks and the Firewall Resource Management features.
The Protection Against Distributed Denial of Service Attacks feature provides protection from Denial of Service (DoS) attacks at the global level (for all firewall sessions) and at the VPN routing and forwarding (VRF) level. You can configure the aggressive aging of firewall sessions, event rate monitoring of firewall sessions, half-opened connections limit, and global TCP SYN cookie protection to prevent distributed DoS attacks.
The Firewall Resource Management feature limits the number of VPN routing and forwarding (VRF) instances and global firewall sessions that are configured on a device.