Security Configuration Guide: Denial of Service Attack Prevention, Cisco IOS XE Gibraltar 16.11.X
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The TCP Intercept feature implements software to protect TCP servers from TCP SYN-flooding attacks, which are a type of denial-of-service
attacks. The TCP Intercept feature helps prevent SYN-flooding attacks by intercepting and validating TCP connection requests.
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Restrictions for TCP
Intercept
Do not configure the TCP Intercept feature with either NAT and/or
the zone-based firewall or Context-Based Access Control (CBAC) firewall.
TCP options that
are negotiated on a handshake (such as RFC 1323 about window scaling) are not
renegotiated because the TCP intercept software does not know what a server can
negotiate.
Information About TCP Intercept
TCP Intercept
The TCP Intercept feature implements software to protect TCP servers from TCP SYN-flooding attacks, which are a type of denial-of-service
attacks.
A SYN-flooding attack occurs when a hacker floods a server with a barrage of requests for connection. Because these messages
have unreachable return addresses, these connections cannot be established. The resulting volume of unresolved open connections
eventually overwhelms the server and causes it to deny service to valid requests, thereby preventing legitimate users from
connecting to websites, accessing e-mails, using FTP service, and so on.
The TCP Intercept feature helps prevent SYN-flooding attacks by intercepting and validating TCP connection requests. In intercept
mode, the TCP intercept software intercepts TCP synchronization (SYN) packets that match an extended access list from clients
to servers. The software establishes a connection with the client on behalf of the destination server, and if successful,
establishes a connection with the server on behalf of the client and knits the two half connections transparently. Because
of the intercept of SYN packets, connection attempts from unreachable hosts never reach the server. The software continues
to intercept and forward packets throughout the duration of the connection. The number of SYN packets per second and the number
of concurrent connections that are proxied depends on the platform, memory, processor, and so on.
In case of illegitimate requests, the configured timeouts for half-opened connections and the configured thresholds for TCP
connection requests protect destination servers while still allowing valid requests.
When establishing a security policy using TCP intercept, you can choose to intercept either all requests or only those coming
from specific networks or destined for specific servers. You can also configure the connection rate and the threshold for
outstanding connections.
You can choose to operate TCP intercept in watch mode, as opposed to intercept mode. In watch mode, the software passively
watches the connection requests flowing through a router. If a connection fails to get established in a configured interval,
the software intervenes and terminates the connection attempt.
TCP Intercept and Watch Modes
The TCP Intercept feature can operate in either active intercept mode or passive watch mode. The default is intercept mode.
In intercept mode, the software actively intercepts each incoming connection request (SYN) and responds on behalf of the
server with a SYN-ACK, then waits for an acknowledge (ACK) from the client. When the ACK is received, the original SYN is
sent to the server and the software performs a three-way handshake with the server. When the three-way handshake is complete,
the two half connections are joined.
In watch mode, connection requests are allowed to pass through the router to the server but are watched until they become
established. If connection requests fail to establish within 30 seconds (configurable by using the
ip tcp intercept watch-timeout command), the software sends a reset request to the server to clear up its state.
TCP Intercept Timers and Aggressive Thresholds
In the TCP Intercept feature, two factors determine when the aggressive behavior begins and ends: total number of incomplete
connections and connection requests during the last one-minute sample period. Both these thresholds have default values that
can be redefined. Use the
ip tcp intercept max-incomplete and
ip tcp intercept one-minute commands to configure aggressive thresholds.
When a threshold is exceeded, the TCP intercept assumes that the server is under attack and goes into aggressive mode. In
aggressive mode, the following occurs:
Each newly arriving connection causes the oldest partial connection to be deleted. (You can change this setting to a random
drop mode.)
The initial retransmission timeout is reduced by half to 0.5 seconds, which cuts the total time to establish a connection
by half. (When not in aggressive mode, the initial retransmission timeout is 1 second. The subsequent timeouts are 2 seconds,
4 seconds, 8 seconds, and 16 seconds. The code retransmits four times before giving up, so it gives up after 31 seconds of
no acknowledgment.)
In watch mode, the watch timeout is reduced by half. (If the default is in place, the watch timeout becomes 15 seconds.)
The drop strategy can be changed from the oldest connection to a random connection by using theip tcp intercept drop-mode random command.
Use the
ip tcp intercept max-incomplete command
to change the threshold for triggering aggressive mode based on the total number of incomplete connections. The default values
for
low and
high are 900 and 1100 incomplete connections, respectively.
Use the
ip tcp intercept one-minute command to change the threshold for triggering aggressive mode based on the number of connection requests received in the
last one-minute sample period. The default values for
low and
high are 900 and 1100 connection requests, respectively. When the
high value is exceeded, the aggressive behavior begins. When quantities fall below the
low value, the aggressive behavior ends.
How to Configure TCP
Intercept
Note
Do not configure the
TCP Intercept feature with either NAT and/or the zone-based firewall or
Context-Based Access Control (CBAC) firewall.
Enabling TCP
Intercept
You can define an
access list to intercept either all requests or only those coming from specific
networks or destined for specific servers. Typically, the access list will
define the source as
any and define
specific destination networks or servers. Do not filter source addresses
because you may not know the source from which to intercept packets. You must
identify the destination addresses to protect destination servers.
If no access list
match is found, the router allows the request to pass with no further action.
Device(config)# ip tcp intercept watch-timeout 200
Defines how
long the software waits for a watched TCP intercept connection to reach the
established state before sending a reset to the server.
Step 8
ip tcp intercept finrst-timeout seconds
Example:
Device(config)# ip tcp intercept finrst-timeout 220
Changes the time
between receiving a reset or finish (FIN)-exchange and dropping the connection.
Step 9
ip tcp intercept connection-timeout seconds
Example:
Device(config)# ip tcp intercept connection-timeout 180
Changes the
time a TCP connection is managed by TCP intercept after no activity.
Step 10
ip tcp intercept max-incomplete low numberhigh number
Example:
Device(config)# ip tcp intercept max-incomplete low 3220 high 4550
Sets the
threshold for the number of incomplete connections below which the software
leaves aggressive mode or the maximum number of incomplete connections allowed
before the software enters aggressive mode.
In Cisco
IOS Release 12.4(15)T, the
ip tcp intercept
max-incomplete high and
ip
tcp intercept max-incomplete low
commands were replaced by the
ip tcp intercept
max-incomplete low
numberhigh
number command.
Step 11
ip tcp intercept one-minute low numberhigh number
Example:
Device(config)# ip tcp intercept one-minute low 234 high 456
Sets the
threshold for the number of connection requests received in the last one-minute
below which the software leaves aggressive mode and the number of connection
requests that can be received in the last one-minute before the software enters
aggressive mode.
In Cisco
IOS Release 12.4(15)T, the
ip tcp intercept one-minute
high and
ip
tcp intercept one-minute low
commands were replaced by the
ip tcp intercept one-minute
low
numberhigh
number command.
Step 12
exit
Example:
Device(config)# exit
Exits global
configuration mode and enters privileged EXEC mode.
Step 13
show tcp intercept connections
Example:
Device# show tcp intercept connections
Displays
incomplete and established TCP connections.
Step 14
show tcp intercept statistics
Example:
Device# show tcp intercept statistics
Displays TCP
intercept statistics.
Configuration Examples for TCP Intercept
Example: Enabling TCP Intercept
The following examples shows how to define the extended IP access list 101 and enable the intercept of packets for all TCP
servers:
Router# configure terminal
Router(config)# access-list 101 permit any
Router(config)# ip tcp intercept list 101
Router(config)# ip tcp intercept mode intercept
Router(config)# ip tcp intercept drop-mode random
Router(config)# ip tcp intercept watch-timeout 200
Router(config)# ip tcp intercept finrst-timeout 220
Router(config)# ip tcp intercept connection-timeout 180
Router(config)# ip tcp intercept max-incomplete low 3220 high 4550
Router(config)# ip tcp intercept one-minute low 234 high 456
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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 1. Feature Information for TCP Intercept
Feature Name
Releases
Feature Information
TCP Intercept
11.3(1)
12.4(20)T
This chapter describes how to configure your router to protect TCP servers from TCP SYN-flooding attacks, a type of denial-of-service
attacks. You must configure the TCP Intercept feature to protect against TCP SYN-flooding attacks.
The following commands were introduced or modified:
ip tcp intercept connection-timeout ,
ip tcp intercept drop-mode ,
ip tcp intercept finrst-timeout ,
ip tcp intercept list ,
ip tcp intercept max-incomplete ,
ip tcp intercept mode ,
ip tcp intercept one-minute ,
ip tcp intercept watch-timeout .
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