Source-based routing in IPv4 and IPv6 networks
In my current studies, I did some work about security inside networking data paths. In my recent work, I tried to get some experiments done that needed to use source based routing in order to be completed. Like most of the scientific work that tries to get from paper to experiment and then to something useful, it failed at the very beginning. If I can be more precise and improve a bit the appearance of my failure here. I can do it by explaining what happened and what did I came across while researching my idea. It’s something as simple as this:
Source based routing, by the suggestion of IETF needs to be disabled by default on networking devices. At least it should be as the feature itself is recognised as a major security threat and IETF itself is trying to get rid of it.
Of course that can be considered like a stop sign in an experiment where you are relying solely on source based routing to get your thing running. (:
When you look at the networking technology these days that’s probably IP protocol that you are talking about. Okay maybe you are new age junkie and you are probably speaking about IPv6 protocol. Either way, the very first and main principle of routing packet across data network is based on the destination IP address routing/decision making. Router is making decision on where will he send some packet based more or less solely on destination IP address. It is doing so by reading his locally built routing table of destination subnets. From that table router gets the info out of which interface will he sent the packet that is destined for some address.