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The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is an Internet protocol designed to propagate accurate time around a computer network. NTP utilises UDP over TCP/IP to synchronise network time clients to an accurate time reference. This article describes the security aspects of the NTP protocol and specifically using MD5 keys to authenticate a time server.
The Network Time Protocol may be used to synchronise many time critical processes on distributed computers across a network. The NTP protocol is therefore a potential security risk. Hackers or malicious users could attempt to disrupt system synchronisation by attempting to modify or replicate NTP time stamps.
Luckily, NTP has an integral security feature to thwart attempts to tamper with system time synchronisation. NTP can use MD5 encrypted keys to authenticate time stamps received from a time server. The time client can utilise keys to ensure that a time stamp has indeed been received from a secure source.
NTP implements authentication by utilising an agreed set of keys between a server and client that are encrypted in time stamps. A NTP time server passes a timestamp to a client with one of a selection of keys encrypted and appended to the message. On receipt of the timestamp the client un-encrypts the key to ensure it matches one of the agreed keys. In this manner the client can ensure that the received timestamp originated from the expected time source.
The Network Time Protocol utilises MD5 (Message Digest Encryption 5) encrypted keys. MD5 is a widely used secure encryption algorithm that utilises a 128-bit cryptographic hash function. The algorithm outputs a fingerprint of the supplied key, which is appended to the timestamp.
Linux NTP installations store keys in a file 'ntp.keys'. Each record in the file describes an authentication key in the format: 'key-number' 'encryption-code' 'key'. The 'key-number' is a reference to the key. The 'encryption code' describes the encryption algorithm in use, usually 'M' for MD5 encryption. The 'key' field is the agreed key that is to be encrypted by the encryption algorithm. A subset of 'trusted keys' may be specified in the NTP configuration file 'ntp.conf'. This allows a reduced subset of keys to be utilised by the server. Allowing compromised keys to be easily excluded from use. Trusted keys are specified using the 'trusted-keys' command followed by a space-delimited list of key references.
Cisco routers and switches implement the Network Time Protocol and also include MD5 authentication. To enable a Cisco router to perform MD5 authentication you must follow a number of steps. Firstly, enable NTP authentication with the 'ntp authenticate' command. Secondly, define an NTP authentication key using the 'ntp authentication-key' command. A unique reference number identifies each NTP key. The reference number is the first argument to the command. Thirdly, use the 'ntp trusted-key' command to tell the router which keys are valid. The command's only argument is the reference number of the key defined in the previous step
The Windows 2000\2003\XP operating systems adopt a SNTP (Simple Network Time Protocol) application for time synchronisation. The implementation used by Microsoft does not include authentication keys.
To summarise, MD5 key authentication can be utilised to overcome potential security risks when implementing the NTP protocol. Network time clients can be sure that timestamps have indeed emanated from the expected time reference and have not been intercepted for malicious purposes.
David Evans is a technical author that specialises in documenting the installation and configuration of time servers and network timing equipment. David has provided technical authoring services to a number of leading computer network time synchronisation hardware manufacturers. Click here for more information on NTP and time server systems.
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