Saflo: eBPF-Based MPTCP Scheduler for Mitigating Traffic Analysis Attacks in Cellular Networks

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Lee, Sangwoo, Jin, Liuyi, Stoleru, Radu
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Lee, Sangwoo
Jin, Liuyi
Stoleru, Radu
author_facet Lee, Sangwoo
Jin, Liuyi
Stoleru, Radu
contents This paper presents the $\underline{\textbf{saf}}$e sub$\underline{\textbf{flo}}$w (Saflo) eBPF-based multipath TCP (MPTCP) scheduler, designed to mitigate traffic analysis attacks in cellular networks. Traffic analysis attacks, which exploit vulnerabilities in Downlink Control Information (DCI) messages, remain a significant security threat in LTE/5G networks. To counter such threats, the Saflo scheduler employs multipath communication combined with additional security-related tasks. Specifically, it utilizes eBPF tools to operate in both kernel and user spaces. In the kernel space, the eBPF scheduler performs multipath scheduling while excluding paths disabled by the user-space programs. The user-space programs conduct security-related computations and machine learning-based attack detection, determining whether each path should be enabled or disabled. This approach offloads computationally intensive tasks to user-space programs, enabling timely multipath scheduling in kernel space. The Saflo scheduler was evaluated in a private LTE/5G testbed. The results demonstrated that it significantly reduces the accuracy of video identification and user identification attacks in cellular networks while maintaining reasonable network performance for users.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_04236
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Saflo: eBPF-Based MPTCP Scheduler for Mitigating Traffic Analysis Attacks in Cellular Networks
Lee, Sangwoo
Jin, Liuyi
Stoleru, Radu
Networking and Internet Architecture
Cryptography and Security
This paper presents the $\underline{\textbf{saf}}$e sub$\underline{\textbf{flo}}$w (Saflo) eBPF-based multipath TCP (MPTCP) scheduler, designed to mitigate traffic analysis attacks in cellular networks. Traffic analysis attacks, which exploit vulnerabilities in Downlink Control Information (DCI) messages, remain a significant security threat in LTE/5G networks. To counter such threats, the Saflo scheduler employs multipath communication combined with additional security-related tasks. Specifically, it utilizes eBPF tools to operate in both kernel and user spaces. In the kernel space, the eBPF scheduler performs multipath scheduling while excluding paths disabled by the user-space programs. The user-space programs conduct security-related computations and machine learning-based attack detection, determining whether each path should be enabled or disabled. This approach offloads computationally intensive tasks to user-space programs, enabling timely multipath scheduling in kernel space. The Saflo scheduler was evaluated in a private LTE/5G testbed. The results demonstrated that it significantly reduces the accuracy of video identification and user identification attacks in cellular networks while maintaining reasonable network performance for users.
title Saflo: eBPF-Based MPTCP Scheduler for Mitigating Traffic Analysis Attacks in Cellular Networks
topic Networking and Internet Architecture
Cryptography and Security
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.04236