Securing MPTCP Connections: A Solution for Distributed NIDS Environments

Abstract

With continuous technological advancement, multihomed devices are becoming common. They can connect simultaneously to multiple networks through different interfaces. However, since TCP sessions are bound to one interface per device, it hampers applications from taking advantage of all the available connected networks. This has been solved by MPTCP, introduced as a seamless extension to TCP, allowing more reliable sessions and enhanced throughput. However, MPTCP comes with an inherent risk, as it becomes easier to fragment attacks towards evading NIDS. This paper presents a study of how MPTCP can be used to evade NIDS through simple cross-path attacks. It also introduces tools to facilitate assessing MPTCP-based services in diverse network topologies using an emulation environment. Finally, a new solution is proposed to prevent cross-path attacks through uncoordinated networks. This solution consists of a hostlevel plugin that allows MPTCP sessions only through trusted networks, even in the presence of a NAT.