ZyXEL Communications max208m User Manual

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Chapter 8 Security
WiMAX Device Configuration User’s Guide
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8.12.6  VPN, NAT, and NAT Traversal
NAT is incompatible with the AH protocol in both transport and tunnel mode. An IPSec VPN using 
the AH protocol digitally signs the outbound packet, both data payload and headers, with a hash 
value appended to the packet, but a NAT device between the IPSec endpoints rewrites the source or 
destination address. As a result, the VPN device at the receiving end finds a mismatch between the 
hash value and the data and assumes that the data has been maliciously altered.
NAT is not normally compatible with ESP in transport mode either, but the WiMAX Device’s NAT 
Traversal
 feature provides a way to handle this. NAT traversal allows you to set up an IKE SA when 
there are NAT routers between the two IPSec routers.
Figure 83   
NAT Router Between IPSec Routers
Normally you cannot set up an IKE SA with a NAT router between the two IPSec routers because 
the NAT router changes the header of the IPSec packet. NAT traversal solves the problem by adding 
a UDP port 500 header to the IPSec packet. The NAT router forwards the IPSec packet with the UDP 
port 500 header unchanged. In the above figure, when IPSec router A tries to establish an IKE SA, 
IPSec router B checks the UDP port 500 header, and IPSec routers A and B build the IKE SA.
For NAT traversal to work, you must:
• Use ESP security protocol (in either transport or tunnel mode).
• Use  IKE  keying  mode.
• Enable NAT traversal on both IPSec endpoints.
• Set the NAT router to forward UDP port 500 to IPSec router A.
Finally, NAT is compatible with ESP in tunnel mode because integrity checks are performed over the 
combination of the "original header plus original payload," which is unchanged by a NAT device. The 
compatibility of AH and ESP with NAT in tunnel and transport modes is summarized in the following 
table.
Y* - This is supported in the WiMAX Device if you enable NAT traversal.
8.12.7  ID Type and Content
With aggressive negotiation mode (see 
), the WiMAX Device identifies 
incoming SAs by ID type and content since this identifying information is not encrypted. This 
Table 62   
VPN and NAT
SECURITY PROTOCOL
MODE
NAT
AH
Transport
N
AH
Tunnel
N
ESP
Transport
Y*
ESP
Tunnel
Y
A
B