What is anti-replay protocol and how does it work? (2024)

What is anti-replay protocol and how does it work? (1)

By

  • Rahul Awati

What is anti-replay protocol?

The anti-replay protocol provides Internet Protocol (IP) packet-level security by making it impossible for a hacker to intercept message packets and insert changed packets into the data stream between a source computer and a destination computer. By detecting packets that match the sequence numbers of those that have already arrived, the mechanism helps ensure that invalid packets are discarded and communication integrity is maintained.

This anti-replay protocol is a subprotocol of the Internet Engineering Task Force's IP Security (IPsec) standard suite of protocols. The two main protocols under IPsec -- Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) and Authentication Header (AH) -- both use anti-replay protection.

What is anti-replay protocol and how does it work? (2)

What is a replay attack?

A replay attack occurs when threat actors eavesdrop on a secure network to intercept and record its legitimate communications or data transmissions. They then either delay, resend or repeat this data in order to do the following:

  • impersonate a valid user;
  • misdirect the receiver into doing something they might not have done otherwise; or
  • disrupt legitimate connections.

The goal of a replay attack is to subvert security and cause some kind of negative impact on authorized users and connections.

Real-world example of a replay attack

An employee requests a financial transfer by sending an encrypted message to an authorized person within the company. This could be someone like the financial administrator or a senior accountant.

A hacker captures the message and resends it to the same target recipient. Because the message remains authentic -- it has not been altered -- is correctly encrypted and has simply been resent, it looks legitimate to the recipient.

As a result, receivers may honor the request for the money transfer, unaware that they -- and their organization -- have just been swindled out of a large sum of money.

What is anti-replay protocol and how does it work? (3)

How does the anti-replay protocol work?

The answer to preventing replay attacks is encrypting messages and including a key. IPsec provides anti-replay protection against attackers who could potentially intercept, duplicate or resend encrypted packets.

The mechanism uses a unidirectional security association to establish a secure connection between the source and destination nodes in the network and check whether a received message is a replayed message. It works by assigning a monotonically increasing sequence number to each encrypted packet and then keeping track of the sequence numbers as packets arrive at the destination.

At the outset, the counters of both the source and destination are initialized at 0. The first sent packet has a sequence number of 1, the second packet is numbered 2 and so on. Each time a packet is sent, the receiver verifies that the number is not that of a previously sent packet. If the next packet has a lower number than the previous packet, the destination will drop the packet. If the number is larger, it keeps the packet.

Also, when a replayed packet is detected, the anti-replay protocol generates an error message. It also discards this packet and logs the event with entry identifiers, such as the date/time received, source address, destination address and sequence number.

Enhancing the anti-replay protocol

The anti-replay protocol is designed to overcome adversaries that can insert only replayed messages in the message stream. However, this protocol can be enhanced to overcome bad actors that can potentially insert any message into the message stream.

Here's how it works: A shared secret is provided to both the source and destination computer. The adversary does not know this shared secret. Each message sent by the source consists of three elements: the message sequence number, the message text and the message digest.

Before the destination receives the message, the protocol verifies if the message digest meets a specific value. If a bad actor inserts a message in the message stream between the source and destination, the protocol checks whether the message has been sent earlier by the source or if the digest does not meet the predetermined value.

In either case, the destination discards the message.

What is the AH protocol?

The IPsec AH protocol provides user authentication and integrity protection for packet headers and data. It may also provide replay protection and access protection but cannot encrypt any portion of packets. AH functions in two modes:

  1. Transport
    • does not alter the original IP header or create a new IP header
    • usually used in host-to-host architectures
  2. Tunnel
    • creates a new IP header for each packet

What is the ESP protocol?

ESP provides encryption for packet payload data and authentication to provide integrity protection -- but not for the outermost IP header and protection services. Like the AH protocol, ESP also functions in the transport and tunnel modes. In the latter scenario, it creates a new IP header -- for each packet -- which lists the endpoints of the ESP tunnel as the packet's source and destination.

This feature makes ESP ideal for virtual private network architecture models.

This was last updated in July 2021

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What is anti-replay protocol and how does it work? (2024)

FAQs

What is anti-replay protocol and how does it work? ›

The anti-replay protocol provides Internet Protocol (IP) packet-level security by making it impossible for a hacker to intercept message packets and insert changed packets into the data stream between a source computer and a destination computer.

How does replay protection work? ›

Replay protection refers to the measures taken to prevent the unauthorized replaying or reordering of data packets in a system. It involves the use of techniques such as timestamps and counters to ensure the integrity and authenticity of the transmitted messages.

How the protocol could defend against replay attack? ›

To defend against replay attacks, organizations must adopt robust security measures such as signature-based authentication, data encryption, employing unique token identifiers and nonce values within their applications, as well implementing proper session management, and relying on protocols that include message ...

What is a replay attack in simple terms? ›

A replay attack is a network attack when an attacker intercepts a network communication between two parties to delay, redirect, or repeat it. Then, the cybercriminal pretends to be one of the legitimate parties and retransmits the traffic to replicate or manipulate the original action.

How would the hacker use replay attacks to cause denial of service? ›

They can do it by implanting a data packet sniffer on the victim's device or setting up a fake remotely-controlled hotspot. 2. The hacker intercepts their target's data and resends the relevant packets to the server, making it look like the message originated from the victim's system.

What is the anti-replay protocol? ›

The anti-replay protocol is designed to overcome adversaries that can insert only replayed messages in the message stream. However, this protocol can be enhanced to overcome bad actors that can potentially insert any message into the message stream.

What is an example of an authentication protocol that can provide protection against replay attacks? ›

Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) secures against this sort of replay attack during the authentication phase by instead using a "challenge" message from the authenticator that the client responds with a hash-computed value based on a shared secret (e.g. the client's password), which the authenticator ...

What is the solution for replay attack? ›

Stopping a Replay Attack

All he or she has to do is capture and resend the entire thing — message and key — together. To counter this possibility, both sender and receiver should establish a completely random session key, which is a type of code that is only valid for one transaction and can't be used again.

What happens in a replay attack? ›

A replay attack involves eavesdropping on a network and intercepting a data packet. After the theft, a hacker can resend the same message. The server, not realizing the problem, does just what the hacker wants. Understanding replay protection is critical.

What are protocol attacks? ›

Protocol attacks, also known as a state-exhaustion attacks, cause a service disruption by over-consuming server resources and/or the resources of network equipment like firewalls and load balancers. Protocol attacks utilize weaknesses in layer 3 and layer 4 of the protocol stack to render the target inaccessible.

What is a real life example of a replay attack? ›

A simple example of replay attacks can be seen in online banking. When a user initiates a transaction such as transferring funds to another user, the validity of the transaction is often authenticated using a digital token or signature.

What are examples of replay? ›

Examples of replay in a Sentence

Verb The tied game will be replayed on Saturday. The game's highlights were replayed on the evening news. The footage has been played and replayed on television. Noun They scheduled the replay for Saturday.

Is a replay attack a threat to confidentiality? ›

Replay attacks can compromise the confidentiality and privacy of sensitive information.

What are the two most common denial of service attacks? ›

DoS attacks take various forms, each exploiting specific vulnerabilities. One common type is the volumetric attack, which floods the target with excessive traffic. Another type, the protocol attack, exploits weaknesses in network protocols.

Which one of the following techniques is useful in preventing replay attacks? ›

Stopping a Replay Attack

Preventing such an attack is all about having the right method of encryption. Encrypted messages carry "keys" within them, and when they're decoded at the end of the transmission, they open the message.

What do hackers get out of DDoS? ›

The main goal of an attacker that is leveraging a Denial of Service (DoS) attack method is to disrupt a website availability: The website can become slow to respond to legitimate requests. The website can be disabled entirely, making it impossible for legitimate users to access it.

How does replay work in the NFL? ›

The referee has up to 90 seconds to watch the instant replay of the play and decide if the original call was correct. The referee must see "incontrovertible visual evidence" that the original call was incorrect for a call to be overturned.

How does Apple replay work? ›

How Apple Music Replay works. Apple Music Replay calculates your top songs, albums, artists, playlists, genres, and stations using: Your listening history in Apple Music. The number of plays to a song, artist, album, playlist, genre, and station.

How do replay files work? ›

Replays are normally saved in proprietary formats made by the developers—this can either be in form of video capture or input capture, with the latter being much more efficient in terms of file size. Replays recorded using third-party tools, such as FRAPS, are a form of user-generated content.

How does replay work in MLB? ›

The current instant replay system was implemented in the 2014 season. Under the current system, each manager is allotted one challenge per game, with additional challenges granted only if the previous one was successful. From the eighth inning on, the umpire crew chief is allowed to initiate his own replay review.

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