Contents
Introduction
A New Addressing Methodology
Benefits of a Role-Based Address Assignment Methodology
Development of an Addressing Methodology
Deployment Considerations
Using IP addresses as a form of identification is a common practice, and for good reason. IP address use in ACLs and routing is commonplace. This paper will show that with a little more consideration, addresses can also be used as a management tool, even in scenarios where an IP address is load balanced to many hosts.
The application of IP addressing purely on a topographic basis does not create an environment in which concise security policies are easily created. This fact, in conjunction with the IP address dependencies of many security features, can lead to overly complex device configurations. The assignment of IP addressing using a role-based methodology is the most effective way to reduce this complexity. This methodology will allow for the simplification of many network device configurations as well as the creation of succinct ACLs that will be easier to add and maintain. With a role-based addressing methodology, interface IP addresses are assigned from pools dedicated to specific device roles. For example, loopback addresses may be allocated from 10.255.255.0/24, while addresses that support remote access networks are allocated from 10.200.0.0/16.
After administrators employ a role-based address assignment, there will be new avenues through which they can implement additional security controls. For example, if administrators are sure that all addresses in the subnet 10.255.255.0/24 represent loopback interfaces of core network devices, they can safely leverage that information throughout the network. Additionally, they can fortify that assumption using supporting technologies. For example, the infrastructure ACL implementation could drop packets that contain a source address of 10.255.255.99 when these packets are entering the network because there is no valid reason for that source to exist outside the network. More information about infrastructure ACLs is available at Protecting Your Core: Infrastructure Protection Access Control Lists.
Administrators can leverage efficiencies in security controls throughout the network after IP addresses have been assigned using a role-based methodology. These efficiencies will not only allow for more succinct configurations, but will also remove the error-prone nature of "one-off" manual configurations.
Note: Although a contiguous subnet mask—a mask in which there is exactly one group of ones and one group of zeros—is typically required by network devices, access control entries (ACEs) do not carry this restriction. When administrators define security controls with ACLs, it may be possible to leverage this fact. For example, hypothetical NOC subnets of 10.100.100.0/24 and 10.101.100.0/24 can be represented by the ACE permit ip 10.100.100.0 0.1.0.255 any. This technique should not be used extensively in an addressing methodology; however, it is an available tool to address special cases.
Beyond the traditional placement of security controls, grouping devices in this manner will create new applications for IP address–based security features. For example, if the subnets that house IP phones and their supporting servers have been allocated from a single, contiguous block of IP address space, it may be possible to implement more stringent controls on traffic to and from those segments. Taking this a step further, implementation of an ACL similar to the one in the following example may become feasible.
! ip access-list extended ACL-UC-IN/OUT remark *** 172.16/16 dedicated to Unified Communications *** permit ip 172.16.0.0 0.0.255.255 172.16.0.0 0.0.255.255 ! interface Vlan <VOICE-VLAN> ip access-group ACL-UC-IN/OUT in ip access-group ACL-UC-IN/OUT out !
Although the preceding ACL is meant to be illustrative and is not comprehensive, this type of VLAN is an area in which improved security is often welcomed because voice VLANs typically bypass the security controls that are applied to data segments (such as 802.1x or Network Admission Control).
Administrators must devise an interface and device grouping methodology as a first step. A security-oriented methodology should aim to minimize the configuration complexity of network devices and applications. If standard device or interface naming has been deployed in an organization, administrators can examine those structures to identify parallels that should be carried into the addressing methodology.
The following list provides a starting point for an organization-specific grouping scheme. It is important to note that a single device will likely be in more than one group; a particular IP address, and not the entire device, is included in the group.
After the groups have been defined and vetted, addressing must be assigned to each group of devices and interfaces. This step may be made easier through the use of addresses set aside for private use according to RFC 1918. One common approach that can make it easier to associate an IP address to its role is to use similar but obviously different addresses for roles that are different but somehow related. For example, administrators could assign the subnet 172.16.1.0/24 to the data network at a remote location and 10.16.1.0/24 to the phones at the same location.
Administrators can use any proven re-addressing strategy after completing the address assignment methodology; however, a pure network re-addressing exercise is very difficult. A more appropriate approach would be to implement this strategy for deployments of new networks or IPv6, or to incorporate the re-addressing into the phased reprovisioning of the network.
When any change is made to a network, it is important to understand its ramifications. The following questions should be answered prior to pursuing a security-oriented addressing methodology.
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