nanog mailing list archives

Re: SOVC - BGp RPKI


From: Owen DeLong via NANOG <nanog () nanog org>
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2024 15:07:17 -0800

SOVC appears to be a Cisco-specific acronym and it’s pretty certain that the OVC stands for Origin Validation Cache. My 
best intuition based on the research I’ve been able to do is that the S stands for Secure (on the pretense that RPKI 
and Origin Validation have something to do with security and because X.509 certificate and encryption and marketing 
buzzwords YAY!)

Juniper refers to their equivalent database simply as “Route Validation (RV) Records in the RV Database.

Hope that helps.

Owen


On Jan 31, 2024, at 14:32, Tom Beecher <beecher () beecher cc> wrote:

I see it mentioned in this doc:
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/ios-xml/ios/iproute_bgp/configuration/15-s/irg-15-s-book/irg-origin-as.pdf

You see SOVC mentioned, yes. But you don't see the word 'stale'. 



Please don't just paste what ChatGPT says. It's not an authoritative source.  I can find no Cisco document stating 
what the acronym MEANS. But the context they use it seems to imply the word 'stale' isn't appropriate.



A prefix or prefix range and the origin-AS corresponding to it are considered an SOVC record. Overlapping prefix 
ranges are allowed. An SOVC table containing three records might look like this:
 
 Valid—Indicates the prefix and AS pair are found in the SOVC table.

If more than one RPKI server is configured, the router will connect to all configured servers and download prefix 
information from all of them. The SOVC table will be made of the union of all the records received from the 
different servers.

 
 In the following example, the router is configured to connect to two RPKI servers, from which it will receive SOVC 
records of BGP prefixes and AS numbers.

On Wed, Jan 31, 2024 at 3:34 PM Compton, Rich via NANOG <nanog () nanog org <mailto:nanog () nanog org>> wrote:
ChatGPT says:

SOVC in the context of RPKI (Resource Public Key Infrastructure) on a Cisco router stands for "Stale Origin 
Validation Cache". RPKI is a security framework designed to secure the Internet's routing infrastructure, primarily 
through route origin validation. It ensures that the Internet number resources (like IP addresses and AS numbers) 
are used by the legitimate owners or authorized AS (Autonomous System).

In RPKI, Route Origin Authorizations (ROAs) are used to define which AS is authorized to announce a specific IP 
address block. Network devices, like Cisco routers, use these ROAs to validate the authenticity of BGP (Border 
Gateway Protocol) route announcements.

The term "stale" in SOVC refers to a situation where the router's RPKI-to-Router protocol client has lost its 
connection to the RPKI server, or when the RPKI cache data is outdated and not refreshed for some reason. This can 
happen due to network issues, configuration errors, or problems with the RPKI server itself. When the RPKI cache is 
stale, the router cannot reliably validate BGP route announcements against the latest ROA data, potentially 
affecting routing decisions.

In a network security context, maintaining an up-to-date RPKI cache is crucial for ensuring that the network only 
accepts legitimate routing announcements, thereby reducing the risk of routing hijacks or misconfigurations. As a 
network security engineer, managing and monitoring the RPKI status on routers is an important aspect of ensuring 
network security and integrity.

 

 

 

I see it mentioned in this doc:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/ios-xml/ios/iproute_bgp/configuration/15-s/irg-15-s-book/irg-origin-as.pdf

 

 

From: NANOG <nanog-bounces+rich_compton=comcast.com () nanog org <mailto:comcast.com () nanog org>> on behalf of 
Mohammad Khalil <eng.mssk () gmail com <mailto:eng.mssk () gmail com>>
Date: Wednesday, January 31, 2024 at 10:35 AM
To: NANOG list <nanog () nanog org <mailto:nanog () nanog org>>
Subject: SOVC - BGp RPKI

Greetings Am have tried to find out what is the abbreviation for SOVC with no luck. #sh bgp ipv4 unicast rpki 
servers  BGP SOVC neighbor is X. X. X. 47/323 connected to port 323 Anyone have encountered this? Thanks! ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ 
‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍

Greetings

Am have tried to find out what is the abbreviation for SOVC with no luck.

 

#sh bgp ipv4 unicast rpki servers 

BGP SOVC neighbor is X.X.X.47/323 connected to port 323

 

Anyone have encountered this?

 

Thanks!



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