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FLOW6(1)		     General Commands Manual			FLOW6(1)

NAME
     flow6 - A security assessment tool for the IPv6 Flow Label field

SYNOPSIS
     flow6  [-i INTERFACE] -d DST_ADDR [-S LINK_SRC_ADDR] [-D LINK_DST_ADDR] [-s
     SRC_ADDR[/LEN]] [-A HOP_LIMIT] [-P PROTOCOL] [-p PORT] [-W] [-v] [-h]

DESCRIPTION
     flow6 performs a security assessment of the Flow Label generation policy of
     a target node. It is part of the SI6 Networks' IPv6 Toolkit: a security as-
     sessment suite for the IPv6 protocols.

     flow6 sends a number of probe packets to the target node, and  samples  the
     Flow  Label values of the corresponding response packets. Based on the sam-
     pled values, it tries to infer the Flow Label generation policy of the tar-
     get.

     The tool will first send a number of probe packets  from  single  IPv6  ad-
     dress,  such  that  the per-destination policy is determined. The tool will
     then send probe packets from random IPv6 addresses (from the same prefix as
     the first probes) such that the "global" Flow Label generation  policy  can
     be determined.

     The tool computes the expected value and the standard deviation of the dif-
     ference  between  consecutive-sampled Flow Label values (Labeln - Labeln-1)
     with the intent of inferring the Flow Label  generation  algorithm  of  the
     target node.

     If  the  standard	deviation of [Labeln - Labeln-1] is 0, the Flow Label is
     assumed to be set to a constant value, and the corresponding value  is  in-
     formed  to  the  user. For small values of the standard deviation, the Flow
     Label is assumed to be a monotonically-increasing function with  increments
     of  the "expected value", and such "expected value" together with the stan-
     dard deviation, are informed to the user. For large values of the	standard
     deviation,  the  Flow  Label  is assumed to be randomized, and the expected
     value and standard deviation are informed to the user, as indicators of the
     "quality" of the Flow Label generation algorithm.

OPTIONS
     flow6 takes it parameters as command-line options. Each of the options  can
     be  specified  with  a  short  name (one character preceded with the hyphen
     character, as e.g. "-i") or with a long name (a string  preceded  with  two
     hyphen characters, as e.g. "--interface").

     -i INTERFACE, --interface INTERFACE
	    This  option specifies the network interface that the tool will use.
	    If the destination address ("-d" option) is  a  link-local	address,
	    the  interface  must be explicitly specified. The interface may also
	    be specified alon with a destination address, with the "-d" option.

     -s SRC_ADDR, --src-address SRC_ADDR

	    This option specifies the IPv6 source address (or IPv6 prefix) to be
	    used for the Source Address of the probe packets. If an IPv6  prefix
	    is	specified, the IPv6 Source Address of the ICMPv6 packets will be
	    randomized from that prefix.

     -d DST_ADDR, --dst-address DST_ADDR

	    This option specifies the IPv6 Destination	Address  of  the  target
	    node. This option cannot be left unspecified.

     -A HOP_LIMIT, --hop-limit HOP_LIMIT

	    This option specifies the Hop Limit to be used for the IPv6 packets.
	    By default, the Hop Limit is randomized.

     -S SRC_LINK_ADDR, --src-link-address SRC_LINK_ADDR

	    This  option  specifies  the  link-layer Source Address of the probe
	    packets (currently, only Ethernet is supported).  If  left	unspeci-
	    fied,  the	link-layer  Source  Address of the packets is set to the
	    real link-layer address of the network interface.

     -D DST_LINK_ADDR, --dst-link-address DST_LINK_ADDR

	    This option specifies the  link-layer  Destination	Address  of  the
	    probe  packets  (currently, only Ethernet is supported). By default,
	    the link-layer Destination	Address  is  automatically  set  to  the
	    link-layer	address  of  the  destination host (for on-link destina-
	    tions) or to the link-layer address of the first-hop router.

     -P PROTOCOL, --protocol PROTOCOL

	    This option specifies the protocol type of the probe  packets.  Cur-
	    rently,  both  "UDP" and "TCP" are supported. If this option is left
	    unspecified, the protocol type defaults to "TCP".

     -p PORT, --dst-port PORT

	    This option specifies the Destination Port of the probe packets.  If
	    left  unspecified,	the  Destination  Port defaults to "80" when the
	    IPv6 payload is TCP, and to 53 if the IPv6 payload is UDP.

	    Note: Since it is vital for the tool to receive response packets  to
	    be	able to infer the Flow Label algorithm of the target, the proto-
	    col type and Destination Port should be  carefully	selected  (i.e.,
	    the  corresponding	protocol and Destination Port should not be fil-
	    ter, and the target should respond to packets sent	to  that  proto-
	    col/port).

     -W, --flow-label-policy
	    This  option  instructs the tool to determine the Flow Label genera-
	    tion policy. As of this version of the tool,  this	option	must  be
	    specified.

     -v, --verbose

	    This  option instructs the flow6 tool to be verbose.  If this option
	    is set twice, the tool is "very verbose", and  outputs  the  sampled
	    Flow Label values (in addition to other information).

     -h, --help

	    Print help information for the flow6 tool.

EXAMPLES
     The following sections illustrate typical use cases of the flow6 tool.

     Example #1

     # flow6 -i eth0 --flow-label-policy -d fe80::1 -v

     Assess  the  Flow	Label generation policy of the host "fe80::1", using the
     network interface "eth0". Probe packets are TCP segments directed	to  port
     80  (default).  Be verbose. In this example, since the IPv6 destination ad-
     dress is a link-local address, the network interface ccard must be  explic-
     itly specified.

     Example #2

     # flow6 -d 2001:db8::1 --flow-label-policy -P TCP -p 22 -vv

     Assess  the  Flow	Label generation policy of the host "2001:db8::1". Probe
     packets are TCP segments directed to port 22. Be very verbose  (i.e.,  list
     the sampled Flow Label values).

AUTHOR
     The flow6 tool and the corresponding manual pages were produced by Fernando
     Gont <fgont@si6networks.com> for SI6 Networks <http://www.si6networks.com>.

COPYRIGHT
     Copyright (c) 2011-2013 Fernando Gont.

     Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under
     the  terms  of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later
     version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no  Invariant  Sec-
     tions,  no  Front-Cover  Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.  A copy of the li-
     cense is available at <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html>.

									FLOW6(1)

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