Authors:
(1) Diwen Xue, University of Michigan;
(2) Reethika Ramesh, University of Michigan;
(3) Arham Jain, University of Michigan;
(4) Arham Jain, Merit Network, Inc.;
(5) J. Alex Halderman, University of Michigan;
(6) Jedidiah R. Crandall, Arizona State University/Breakpointing Bad;
(7) Roya Ensaf, University of Michigan. Table of Links Abstract and 1 Introduction 2 Background & Related Work 3 Challenges in Real-world VPN Detection 4 Adversary Model and Deployment 5 Ethics, Privacy, and Responsible Disclosure 6 Identifying Fingerprintable Features and 6.1 Opcode-based Fingerprinting 6.2 ACK-based Fingerprinting 6.3 Active Server Fingerprinting 6.4 Constructing Filters and Probers 7 Fine-tuning for Deployment and 7.1 ACK Fingerprint Thresholds 7.2 Choice of Observation Window N 7.3 Effects of Packet Loss 7.4 Server Churn for Asynchronous Probing 7.5 Probe UDP and Obfuscated OpenVPN Servers 8 Real-world Deployment Setup 9 Evaluation & Findings and 9.1 Results for control VPN flows 9.2 Results for all flows 10 Discussion and Mitigations 11 Conclusion 12 Acknowledgement and References Appendix 11 Conclusion We have demonstrated that OpenVPN, even with widely applied obfuscation techniques, can be reliably detected and blocked at-scale by network-based adversaries. Inspired by previous real-world censorship events, we designed a twophase system that performs passive filtering followed by active probing to fingerprint OpenVPN flows. We evaluated the practicality of our approach in partnership with a mid-size ISP, and we were able to identify the majority of vanilla and obfuscated OpenVPN flows with only negligible false positives, which supports that the techniques we describe would be practical even for adversaries averse to collateral damage. Users worldwide rely on VPNs to protect their security and privacy and to escape Internet censorship, yet the ease of fingerprinting OpenVPN traffic and the commodification of DPI technologies bring monitoring and blocking of popular VPN services within reach for almost any network operator. We propose several short-term mitigations that can help defend against these threats, but in the long term, we urge VPN providers to adopt more resilient and better standardized obfuscation approaches. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY 4.0 DEED license. Authors: (1) Diwen Xue, University of Michigan; (2) Reethika Ramesh, University of Michigan; (3) Arham Jain, University of Michigan; (4) Arham Jain, Merit Network, Inc.; (5) J. Alex Halderman, University of Michigan; (6) Jedidiah R. Crandall, Arizona State University/Breakpointing Bad; (7) Roya Ensaf, University of Michigan. Authors: Authors: (1) Diwen Xue, University of Michigan; (2) Reethika Ramesh, University of Michigan; (3) Arham Jain, University of Michigan; (4) Arham Jain, Merit Network, Inc.; (5) J. Alex Halderman, University of Michigan; (6) Jedidiah R. Crandall, Arizona State University/Breakpointing Bad; (7) Roya Ensaf, University of Michigan. Table of Links Abstract and 1 Introduction Abstract and 1 Introduction 2 Background & Related Work 2 Background & Related Work 3 Challenges in Real-world VPN Detection 3 Challenges in Real-world VPN Detection 4 Adversary Model and Deployment 4 Adversary Model and Deployment 5 Ethics, Privacy, and Responsible Disclosure 5 Ethics, Privacy, and Responsible Disclosure 6 Identifying Fingerprintable Features and 6.1 Opcode-based Fingerprinting 6 Identifying Fingerprintable Features and 6.1 Opcode-based Fingerprinting 6.2 ACK-based Fingerprinting 6.2 ACK-based Fingerprinting 6.3 Active Server Fingerprinting 6.3 Active Server Fingerprinting 6.4 Constructing Filters and Probers 6.4 Constructing Filters and Probers 7 Fine-tuning for Deployment and 7.1 ACK Fingerprint Thresholds 7 Fine-tuning for Deployment and 7.1 ACK Fingerprint Thresholds 7.2 Choice of Observation Window N 7.2 Choice of Observation Window N 7.3 Effects of Packet Loss 7.3 Effects of Packet Loss 7.4 Server Churn for Asynchronous Probing 7.4 Server Churn for Asynchronous Probing 7.5 Probe UDP and Obfuscated OpenVPN Servers 7.5 Probe UDP and Obfuscated OpenVPN Servers 8 Real-world Deployment Setup 8 Real-world Deployment Setup 9 Evaluation & Findings and 9.1 Results for control VPN flows 9 Evaluation & Findings and 9.1 Results for control VPN flows 9.2 Results for all flows 9.2 Results for all flows 10 Discussion and Mitigations 10 Discussion and Mitigations 11 Conclusion 11 Conclusion 12 Acknowledgement and References 12 Acknowledgement and References Appendix Appendix 11 Conclusion We have demonstrated that OpenVPN, even with widely applied obfuscation techniques, can be reliably detected and blocked at-scale by network-based adversaries. Inspired by previous real-world censorship events, we designed a twophase system that performs passive filtering followed by active probing to fingerprint OpenVPN flows. We evaluated the practicality of our approach in partnership with a mid-size ISP, and we were able to identify the majority of vanilla and obfuscated OpenVPN flows with only negligible false positives, which supports that the techniques we describe would be practical even for adversaries averse to collateral damage. Users worldwide rely on VPNs to protect their security and privacy and to escape Internet censorship, yet the ease of fingerprinting OpenVPN traffic and the commodification of DPI technologies bring monitoring and blocking of popular VPN services within reach for almost any network operator. We propose several short-term mitigations that can help defend against these threats, but in the long term, we urge VPN providers to adopt more resilient and better standardized obfuscation approaches. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY 4.0 DEED license. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY 4.0 DEED license. available on arxiv

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OpenVPN Detection Risks: Scaling Attacks and Calls for Stronger Obfuscation

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