ZyXEL Communications EMG5324-D10A User Manual

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Chapter 17 VPN
EMG5324-D10A User’s Guide
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incoming packet by computing its own hash value, and complain that the hash value appended to 
the received packet doesn't match. The VPN device at the receiving end doesn't know about the 
NAT in the middle, so it assumes that the data has been maliciously altered.
IPSec using ESP in Tunnel mode encapsulates the entire original packet (including headers) in a 
new IP packet. The new IP packet's source address is the outbound address of the sending VPN 
gateway, and its destination address is the inbound address of the VPN device at the receiving end. 
When using ESP protocol with authentication, the packet contents (in this case, the entire original 
packet) are encrypted. The encrypted contents, but not the new headers, are signed with a hash 
value appended to the packet.
Tunnel mode ESP with authentication is compatible with NAT because integrity checks are 
performed over the combination of the "original header plus original payload," which is unchanged 
by a NAT device. 
Transport mode ESP with authentication is not compatible with NAT.
17.6.3  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 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 111   
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 
, 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:
Table 71   
VPN and NAT
SECURITY PROTOCOL
MODE
NAT
AH
Transport
N
AH
Tunnel
N
ESP
Transport
N
ESP
Tunnel
Y
A
B