[strongSwan] SHA1 vs SHA256

[Dusan Ilic]

Hi Noel,

I think I'm already using kernel-netlink on both endpoints.

cat /etc/strongswan.d/charon/kernel-netlink.conf | grep load
     # Whether to load the plugin. Can also be an integer to increase the
     load = yes


Den 2017-08-04 kl. 21:00, skrev Noel Kuntze:
> Hi,
>
> If the pfkey API (nowadays a wrapper around XFRM) to the kernel is used, SHA-256 with 96 bit truncation is used[1][2]. That is because it is the default truncation length.
> It is not possible to choose the truncation length using pfkey.
> If XFRM over netlink socket is used to configure XFRM, one can choose the truncation length. strongSwan uses the 128 bit truncation length for HMAC-SHa256.
>
> Since 5.5.3, one can choose the truncation length on a per-conn basis.
>  From the roadmap[3]:
>
> With the sha256_96 compatibility option it's possible to locally configure 96-bit truncation
> for HMAC_SHA256 (the correct truncation is 128 bit) when negotiated using the official
> algorithm identifier (12). This is only useful for compatibility with peers that incorrectly
> use this shorter truncation as the actual truncation length is not negotiated.
>
> So the solution is to try using kernel-netlink instead of kernel-pfkey with strongSwan in an attempt to force the kernel to
> use the 128 bit truncation length, which strongSwan chooses by default.
>
> Kind regards
>
> Noel
>
> [1] https://wiki.strongswan.org/issues/2301
> [2] https://wiki.strongswan.org/issues/2391
> [3] https://wiki.strongswan.org/versions/65
> On 04.08.2017 20:50, Andreas Steffen wrote:
>> Hi Dusan,
>>
>> the only workaround I see is to either upgrade your Linux 2.6
>> kernel or fall back to a SHA-1 based ESP HMAC.
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Andreas
>>
>> On 04.08.2017 20:46, Dusan Ilic wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> Unfortunately, I'm not following you guys :)
>>> Could someone please clarify?
>>>
>>>
>>> Den 2017-08-04 kl. 19:04, skrev Noel Kuntze:
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> IIRC pfkey still uses the old truncation (It's mentioned in some
>>>> relatively recent ticket).
>>>> Try using kernel-netlink instead.
>>>>
>>>> Kind regards
>>>>
>>>> Noel
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 04.08.2017 19:02, Andreas Steffen wrote:
>>>>> Hi Dusan,
>>>>>
>>>>> hmmm, our documentation says that the correct ESP SHA256_128 HMAC
>>>>> truncation was introduced with the 2.6.33 kernel but your kernel
>>>>> might not be a vanilla 2.6.36 kernel:
>>>>>
>>>>>    https://wiki.strongswan.org/projects/strongswan/wiki/IKEv2CipherSuites
>>>>>
>>>>>    (ESP integrity algorithm footnote n)
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards
>>>>>
>>>>> Andreas
>>>>>
>>>>> On 04.08.2017 16:41, Dusan Ilic wrote:
>>>>>> Hi Andreas
>>>>>>
>>>>>> One side is 2.6.36 and the other 3.10.20
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Den 2017-08-04 kl. 12:48, skrev Andreas Steffen:
>>>>>>> Hi Dusan,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> this is a Linux kernel issue. Which kernel versions are you running
>>>>>>> on the two endpoints?.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Regards
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Andreas
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 04.08.2017 12:41, Dusan Ilic wrote:
>>>>>>>> Hi Noel,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> One side is Strongswan 5.2.2 and the other is 5.5.2.
>>>>>>>> How do I switch?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Den 2017-08-04 kl. 12:25, skrev Noel Kuntze:
>>>>>>>>> the remote peer probably uses the DRAFT variant of sha2-256, which
>>>>>>>>> uses 96 bit truncation. strongSwan uses the actual standardized
>>>>>>>>> variant that truncates to 128 bit.
>>>>>>>>> You can switch between the two in the newest version of strongSwan
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On 04.08.2017 12:23, Dusan Ilic wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> Hello!
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I have a strange issue, with both settings below the tunnel goes up
>>>>>>>>>> as it should, but only with SHA1 in ESP traffic goes through.
>>>>>>>>>> When I
>>>>>>>>>> ping the remote client with ESP SHA256 it times out, even though
>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>> tunnel reports as being up by Strongswan.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Traffic working:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> ike=aes256-sha256-modp2048!
>>>>>>>>>> esp=aes128-sha1-modp2048!
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Traffic not working:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> ike=aes256-sha256-modp2048!
>>>>>>>>>> esp=aes256-sha256-modp2048!
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Below combo doesn't work either:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> ike=aes256-sha256-modp2048!
>>>>>>>>>> esp=aes128-sha256-modp2048!
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Also, are above settings good? I'm having AES128 on ESP because
>>>>>>>>>> with
>>>>>>>>>> AES256 I loose too much througput. Do you have any suggestions for
>>>>>>>>>> change?
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>