RE: Routers, Switches, and Firewall testing

From: rzaluski (rzaluski@ivolution.ca)
Date: Mon Jan 03 2005 - 13:15:37 EST


Hello...

We have been using the ISIC tool suite. Basically it is a suite of tools
that test the TCP/IP Stack and ruins under Linux. Its also free and you can
download it from: http://www.packetfactory.net/projects/ISIC/

As per the website :
"ISIC is a suite of utilities to exercise the stability of an IP Stack and
its component stacks (TCP, UDP, ICMP et. al.) It generates piles of pseudo
random packets of the target protocol. The packets be given tendancies to
conform to. Ie 50% of the packets generated can have IP Options. 25% of the
packets can be IP fragments... But the percentages are arbitrary and most of
the packet fields have a configurable tendancy."

It basically comes with 5 tools under the ISIC suite. Which are : isic,
tcpsic, udpsic, icmpsic and esic. All have variouis functions and there is
some overlap in what the tools do but they do a great job in testing.

isic - handles IP level tests and covers the source and destination number
and header length. When you run it it dumps IP packets onto the network as
quickly as possible. Some packets are intentionally malformed. This allows
you to test general networking protocols as well as more specific ones

tcpsic - is a utility for geterating random TCP packets and data. It works
at layer 4. You have to supply information such as the source and
destination ports. This enables you to test ports such as 80, 25 or VPNs
etc. example tcpsic -s 172.31.20.5,1200 -d 172.32.15.1,80
(if you omit a number tcpsic uses a random port)

udpsic works much like tcpsic but with udp (obviously!) Allows you to
specify the source and destination port along with the IP.

Icmpsic - basically it’s a tool that allows you to test how your security
device handles icmp traffic that does not fall use only icmp echo.

Esic - is a tool that transmits pacets packets with random port numbers. The
E in esic stands for Ethernet. This tool works below the network layer.

As you can see the suite works in various layers and tests them all.

For instance you could test your firewall ruleset and performance under
pressure. Firewalls operate most efficiently when they receive normal
traffic. But what happens when it received abnormal traffic under heavy
load? You can use a command such as the one below. The P, V, F -80 switches
indicate that 75% of traffic will be malformed.

isic -s 192.168.1.5 -d 10.21.1.5 -P80 -V80 I-80

You could also run tcpsic in conjunction with the command above to see how
the firewall performance is affected when receiving data to an internal web
server.

Tcpsic -s 192.168.1.4,2020 -d 10.21.1.6,80

While the test above is not "realistic" as firewalls generally do not recive
80% of traffic malformed it will stress test the system and give you good
snapshot at what you need to look at to improve performance.

It is a good tool suite that has a lot to offer if you learn how to use it
properly. The nice thing about it is that it can be used in shell scripts.

As a pervious poster commented, there is no "one mega tool" but a collection
of tools and techniques......

Good luck!

Richard Zaluski, CCNA, CRCP
CISO, Security and Infrastructure Services
iVolution Technologies Incorporated
905.309.1911
866.601.4678
905.524.8450 (Pager)
www.ivolution.ca
rzaluski@ivolution.ca
 
Key fingerprint = DB39 7FC3 1F5D AD94 85DD 78B0 774D
 
=======================================================================
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message, including any
attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may
contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the
intended recipient, please contact the sender. Any unauthorized review,
use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited.
=======================================================================

-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Dreelin [mailto:gdreelin@edsicorp.com]
Sent: Monday, January 03, 2005 9:59 AM
To: pen-test@lists.securityfocus.com
Subject: Routers, Switches, and Firewall testing

Pen-Test Group,

 

     I have a question to present that is in need of a good answer. The
question I have is "Is there any good programs for VAP testing routers,
switches, and firewalls?" I know there is the Router Assessment Tool (RAT)
for Cisco router and there is FTEST for firewalls, but are there any other
programs that can be loaded on to a Laptop Toolkit that can do the testing?
Looking for a all in one program if there is such a thing. If anyone has
any good ideas please let me know. Thanks ahead.

 

v/r

Gregory (Greg) S. Dreelin
Senior Systems Analyst
Marine Corp Information Assurance Assessment Team (MCIAAT)
gdreelin@edsicorp.com
540-720-0841/0843/2093 /2106
Cell 703-843-1962
__________________________________________________________________
‘Information is Knowledge, Knowledge is Power, and Power is Dangerous”





This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.7 : Sat Apr 12 2008 - 10:54:12 EDT