Secure Topology Detection in Software-Defined Networking with Network Configuration Protocol and Link Layer Discovery Protocol

Abstract

The security concerns are a very important aspect of the Software-Defined Networking (SDN) concept since the security is not a built-in feature in the architecture. The decoupling of the data plane from the control plane has created completely new loopholes specific to the SDN. Using Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) for topology detection in SDN brings some of these new specific vulnerabilities, such as link discovery attack in the southbound interface. The problem concerns every implementation that uses the LLDP-like packets for link discovery. Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) together with YANG (yet another new generation) modeling language, used as a southbound interface (SBI) in the SDN can help to defend off this attack. This paper proposes the specific usage of NETCONF protocol and modeling abilities of the YANG language. The given enhancement will enable the network controller to recognize the link discovery attack threats.