FIGS. 4A-4B illustrates a call-flow diagram of a method 400 for CNF authentication wherein a CNI plug-in acts as a supplicant according to an embodiment. Method 400 may be implemented using a system architecture similar to that of system 200 described in FIG. 2 above. CNF 410 may be similar to one of CNF's 212. CNI Plug-in 420 may act as the 802.1x supplicant, and may be similar to CNI Plug-in 213. Host Layer 2 (L2) 430 may act as an 802.1x authenticator, and may be similar to Host Layer 2 networking module 214 and/or authenticator 215. Authentication server 440 may be similar to authentication server 220.

Referring to FIG. 4A, as a prerequisite, 802.1x supplicant functionality with support for EAP-TLS may firstly be enabled at CNI Plug-in 420, and like-wise 802.1x authenticator functionality with support for EAP-TLS may firstly be enabled at Host L2 430. Strict CNF authentication mode may also be configured at CNI Plug-in 420 (either on/enabled or off/disabled). EAP-TLS authentication server details of authentication server 330 may also be configured at Host L2 430.

The CNF may be on-boarded by the container runtime (such as container runtime 211) or a container orchestrator, and the CNF interfaces are initialized by a CNI plug-in 420 as virtual interfaces. CNI Plug-in 420 may disallow any traffic from any of the CNF interfaces towards other services (e.g., excluding EAPoL and EAP-TLS messages) until the authentication process (using 802.1x authentication) succeeds.

Referring to FIG. 4A, if strict CNF authentication mode is disabled (case A with reference to FIG. 4A), intra-CNF traffic is allowed at operation 1. This is in order to allow CNF initialization to be sped up before external traffic for the CNF 410 is allowed. However, if strict CNF authentication mode is enabled (Case B with reference to FIG. 4A), intra-CNF traffic is not allowed at operation 2.

At operation 3, the CNI Plug-in 420 may request for bootstrap TLS certificates from CNF 410 (using a GET request). At operation 4, the CNI Plug-in 420 may provide the requested bootstrap TLS certificate. CNI Plug-in 420 may accordingly check to see if the bootstrap TLS certificate conforms to a configured certificate profile.

Referring now to FIG. 4B, the CNI Plug-in 420 may determine based on checking the bootstrap TLS certificate conforms to the certificate profile or not. If it does not conform to the configured certificate profile (Case C with reference to FIG. 4B), the CNI Plug-in 420 will not initiate the EAP-TLS procedure and log the certificate issue. No subsequent actions will be performed thereafter, and the authentication procedure may not occur.

On the other hand, if the bootstrap TLS certificate conforms to the configured certificate profile (Case D with reference to FIG. 4B), the CNI Plug-in 420 may proceed with the EAP-TLS procedure.

Referring to FIG. 4B, at operation 5, the CNI Plug-in 420 may initiate an EAP-TLS protocol sequence with Host L2 430. This may include sending a message to Host L2 430. Upon receiving this message, EAP-TLS message exchange may occur between CNI Plug-in 420 (the 802.1x supplicant), Host L2 430 (the 802.1x authenticator) and authentication server 440 per the relevant standard (for example, RFC 5216). It should be noted that CNF 410 does not send or receive any EAP-TLS messages during this process.

Upon completing the authentication procedure using the EAP-TLS message exchange, at operation 6, the result of the EAP-TLS authentication (which may either indicate that the EAP-TLS was successful or failed) is returned to Host L2 430 from authentication server 440. At operation 7, the result of the EAP-TLS authentication may also be forwarded by Host L2 430 to CNI Plug-in 420.

If EAP-TLS authentication was successful (Case E with reference to FIG. 4B), the CNI Plug-in 420 may allow traffic from all CNF interfaces to the internal/external destination, and accordingly log a successful authentication of the CNF.

If EAP-TLS authentication failed (Case F with reference to FIG. 4B), the CNI Plug-in 420 may block traffic to and from all interfaces of the CNF, and log a failed authentication of the CNF. A security alert may also be raised by CNI Plug-in 420.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a method 500 for CNF authentication according to an embodiment. Method 500 generalizes the message exchange that occurs between a supplicant and authenticator, and may encompass operations 1-3 from method 300 with reference to FIG. 3, and/or operations 5-7 from method 400 with reference to FIG. 4B.

At operation 501, a supplicant (e.g., either a CNF 112, 212 or a CNI Plug-in 213 as described above) may send a message to initiate EAP-TLS protocol to an authenticator (e.g., a Host L2 networking module similar to Host Layer 2 Networking Module 114, 214 described above). This may occur during an instantiation and bootstrapping stage of the CNF. Upon the authenticator receiving the message, EAP-TLS authentication may be performed using an authentication server (e.g., authentication server 120, 220 as described above).

At operation 502, the supplicant may receive the result of the EAP-TLS authentication from the authenticator, which may originate from the authentication server. The authenticator is configured to control traffic of the CNF based on the result of the EAP-TLS authentication. That is, if the result is that EAP-TLS authentication was successful, the authenticator is configured to allow traffic from all interfaces of the CNF, and if it failed, the authenticator is configured to block traffic from all interfaces of the CNF. According to some embodiments, the authenticator may log the result of the authentication.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method 600 for CNF authentication including bootstrap certificate verification according to an embodiment. It should be noted that method 600 is an example embodiment in which the supplicant is a CNI Plug-in. Method 600 may encompass operations 1-7 from method 400 with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B.

At operation 601, prior to sending any message, the supplicant (e.g., CNI Plug-in 213) verifies whether a bootstrap TLS certificate received from the CNF (e.g., CNF 212) conforms to a configured certificate profile. If it does not, operation 602 may occur, wherein the supplicant will not send any message, and a certificate issue may be logged, and the process may end thereafter.

On the other hand, if it was verified that the CNF conforms to the configured certificate profile by the supplicant, at operation 603, the supplicant may send a message to initiate EAP-TLS protocol to an authenticator (e.g., a Host L2 networking module similar to Host Layer 2 Networking Module 214 described above). This may occur during an instantiation and bootstrapping stage of the CNF. Upon the authenticator receiving the message, EAP-TLS authentication may be performed using an authentication server (e.g., authentication server 220 as described above).

At operation 604, the supplicant may receive the result of the EAP-TLS authentication from the authenticator, which may originate from the authentication server. The authenticator is configured to control traffic of the CNF based on the result of the EAP-TLS authentication. That is, if the result is that EAP-TLS authentication was successful, the authenticator is configured to allow traffic from all interfaces of the CNF, and if it failed, the authenticator is configured to block traffic from all interfaces of the CNF.

Accordingly, authentication can be achieved at the Ethernet layer (L2) during the onboarding and instantiation stage for the CNF, and provide network isolation on any unsuccessful authentication attempt, since all communications (except Extensive Authentication Protocol over LAN (EAPoL)) for the CNF will be blocked by the cloud-native platform.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of an example environment 700 in which systems and/or methods, described herein, may be implemented. As shown in FIG. 7, environment 700 may include a user device 710, a platform 720, and a network 730. Devices of environment 700 may interconnect via wired connections, wireless connections, or a combination of wired and wireless connections. In embodiments, any of the functions and operations described with reference to FIG. 1 above may be performed by any combination of elements illustrated in FIG. 7.

User device 710 includes one or more devices capable of receiving, generating, storing, processing, and/or providing information associated with platform 720. For example, user device 710 may include a computing device (e.g., a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a handheld computer, a smart speaker, a server, etc.), a mobile phone (e.g., a smart phone, a radiotelephone, etc.), a wearable device (e.g., a pair of smart glasses or a smart watch), or a similar device. In some implementations, user device 710 may receive information from and/or transmit information to platform 720.

Platform 720 includes one or more devices capable of receiving, generating, storing, processing, and/or providing information. In some implementations, platform 720 may include a cloud server or a group of cloud servers. In some implementations, platform 720 may be designed to be modular such that certain software components may be swapped in or out depending on a particular need. As such, platform 720 may be easily and/or quickly reconfigured for different uses.

In some implementations, as shown, platform 720 may be hosted in cloud computing environment 722. Notably, while implementations described herein describe platform 720 as being hosted in cloud computing environment 722, in some implementations, platform 720 may not be cloud-based (i.e., may be implemented outside of a cloud computing environment) or may be partially cloud-based.

Cloud computing environment 722 includes an environment that hosts platform 720. Cloud computing environment 722 may provide computation, software, data access, storage, etc., services that do not require end-user (e.g., user device 710) knowledge of a physical location and configuration of system(s) and/or device(s) that hosts platform 720. As shown, cloud computing environment 722 may include a group of computing resources 724 (referred to collectively as “computing resources 724” and individually as “computing resource 724”).

Computing resource 724 includes one or more personal computers, a cluster of computing devices, workstation computers, server devices, or other types of computation and/or communication devices. In some implementations, computing resource 724 may host platform 720. The cloud resources may include compute instances executing in computing resource 724, storage devices provided in computing resource 724, data transfer devices provided by computing resource 724, etc. In some implementations, computing resource 724 may communicate with other computing resources 724 via wired connections, wireless connections, or a combination of wired and wireless connections.

As further shown in FIG. 7, computing resource 724 includes a group of cloud resources, such as one or more applications (“APPs”) 724-1, one or more virtual machines (“VMs”) 724-2, virtualized storage (“VSs”) 724-3, one or more hypervisors (“HYPs”) 724-4, or the like. It is understood that one or more example embodiments are not limited to a particular type of cloud computing environment, and may be implemented on one or more servers in the form of virtualized network functions (VNFs), containerized and/or cloud-native functions (CNFs), and the like.

Application 724-1 includes one or more software applications that may be provided to or accessed by user device 710. Application 724-1 may eliminate a need to install and execute the software applications on user device 710. For example, application 724-1 may include software associated with platform 720 and/or any other software capable of being provided via cloud computing environment 722. In some implementations, one application 724-1 may send/receive information to/from one or more other applications 724-1, via virtual machine 724-2.

Virtual machine 724-2 includes a software implementation of a machine (e.g., a computer) that executes programs like a physical machine. Virtual machine 724-2 may be either a system virtual machine or a process virtual machine, depending upon use and degree of correspondence to any real machine by virtual machine 724-2. A system virtual machine may provide a complete system platform that supports execution of a complete operating system (“OS”). A process virtual machine may execute a single program, and may support a single process. In some implementations, virtual machine 724-2 may execute on behalf of a user (e.g., user device 710), and may manage infrastructure of cloud computing environment 722, such as data management, synchronization, or long-duration data transfers.

Virtualized storage 724-3 includes one or more storage systems and/or one or more devices that use virtualization techniques within the storage systems or devices of computing resource 724. In some implementations, within the context of a storage system, types of virtualizations may include block virtualization and file virtualization. Block virtualization may refer to abstraction (or separation) of logical storage from physical storage so that the storage system may be accessed without regard to physical storage or heterogeneous structure. The separation may permit administrators of the storage system flexibility in how the administrators manage storage for end users. File virtualization may eliminate dependencies between data accessed at a file level and a location where files are physically stored. This may enable optimization of storage use, server consolidation, and/or performance of non-disruptive file migrations.

Hypervisor 724-4 may provide hardware virtualization techniques that allow multiple operating systems (e.g., “guest operating systems”) to execute concurrently on a host computer, such as computing resource 724. Hypervisor 724-4 may present a virtual operating platform to the guest operating systems, and may manage the execution of the guest operating systems. Multiple instances of a variety of operating systems may share virtualized hardware resources.

Network 730 includes one or more wired and/or wireless networks. For example, network 730 may include a cellular network (e.g., a fifth generation (5G) network, a long-term evolution (LTE) network, a third generation (3G) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, etc.), a public land mobile network (PLMN), a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a telephone network (e.g., the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)), a private network, an ad hoc network, an intranet, the Internet, a fiber optic-based network, or the like, and/or a combination of these or other types of networks.

The number and arrangement of devices and networks shown in FIG. 7 are provided as an example. In practice, there may be additional devices and/or networks, fewer devices and/or networks, different devices and/or networks, or differently arranged devices and/or networks than those shown in FIG. 7. Furthermore, two or more devices shown in FIG. 7 may be implemented within a single device, or a single device shown in FIG. 7 may be implemented as multiple, distributed devices. Additionally, or alternatively, a set of devices (e.g., one or more devices) of environment 700 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by another set of devices of environment 700.

According to embodiments, the authentication process (or one or more operations associated therewith) described herein may be implemented or be deployed in the server platform described above, in the form of virtualized network function (VNF). In this regard, it is contemplated that the terms “virtual”, “virtualized”, or the like, described hereinabove are merely intended to specify the nature of the machine (and the elements and resources associated therewith) being provided in virtual or software form. In this regard, the “virtual machine”, “virtualized storage”, and the like, described hereinabove should not be limited to any specific type of virtual machine or virtual element. Accordingly, it can be understood that the (or operations associated therewith) may be defined or presented in the form of a containerized network function, of which the functions may be provided in the form of containers.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of example components of a device 800. Device 800 may correspond to user device 710 and/or platform 720. As shown in FIG. 8, device 800 may include a bus 810, a processor 820, a memory 830, a storage component 840, an input component 850, an output component 860, and a communication interface 870.

Bus 810 includes a component that permits communication among the components of device 800. Processor 820 may be implemented in hardware, firmware, or a combination of hardware and software. Processor 820 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), an accelerated processing unit (APU), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or another type of processing component. In some implementations, processor 820 includes one or more processors capable of being programmed to perform a function. Memory 830 includes a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), and/or another type of dynamic or static storage device (e.g., a flash memory, a magnetic memory, and/or an optical memory) that stores information and/or instructions for use by processor 820.

Storage component 840 stores information and/or software related to the operation and use of device 800. For example, storage component 840 may include a hard disk (e.g., a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optic disk, and/or a solid state disk), a compact disc (CD), a digital versatile disc (DVD), a floppy disk, a cartridge, a magnetic tape, and/or another type of non-transitory computer-readable medium, along with a corresponding drive. Input component 850 includes a component that permits device 800 to receive information, such as via user input (e.g., a touch screen display, a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a button, a switch, and/or a microphone). Additionally, or alternatively, input component 850 may include a sensor for sensing information (e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) component, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and/or an actuator). Output component 860 includes a component that provides output information from device 800 (e.g., a display, a speaker, and/or one or more light-emitting diodes (LEDs)).

Communication interface 870 includes a transceiver-like component (e.g., a transceiver and/or a separate receiver and transmitter) that enables device 800 to communicate with other devices, such as via a wired connection, a wireless connection, or a combination of wired and wireless connections. Communication interface 870 may permit device 800 to receive information from another device and/or provide information to another device. For example, communication interface 870 may include an Ethernet interface, an optical interface, a coaxial interface, an infrared interface, a radio frequency (RF) interface, a universal serial bus (USB) interface, a Wi-Fi interface, a cellular network interface, or the like.

Device 800 may perform one or more processes described herein. Device 800 may perform these processes in response to processor 820 executing software instructions stored by a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as memory 830 and/or storage component 840. A computer-readable medium is defined herein as a non-transitory memory device. A memory device includes memory space within a single physical storage device or memory space spread across multiple physical storage devices.

Software instructions may be read into memory 830 and/or storage component 840 from another computer-readable medium or from another device via communication interface 870. When executed, software instructions stored in memory 830 and/or storage component 840 may cause processor 820 to perform one or more processes described herein.

Additionally, or alternatively, hardwired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to perform one or more processes described herein. Thus, implementations described herein are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

The number and arrangement of components shown in FIG. 8 are provided as an example. In practice, device 800 may include additional components, fewer components, different components, or differently arranged components than those shown in FIG. 8. Additionally, or alternatively, a set of components (e.g., one or more components) of device 800 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by another set of components of device 800.

In embodiments, any one of the operations or processes of FIGS. 1-6 may be implemented by or using any one of the elements illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8. It is understood that other embodiments are not limited thereto, and may be implemented in a variety of different architectures (e.g., bare metal architecture, any cloud-based architecture or deployment architecture such as Kubernetes, Docker, OpenStack, etc.).

The foregoing disclosure provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the implementations to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure or may be acquired from practice of the implementations.

Some embodiments may relate to a system, a method, and/or a computer readable medium at any possible technical detail level of integration. Further, one or more of the above components described above may be implemented as instructions stored on a computer readable medium and executable by at least one processor (and/or may include at least one processor). The computer readable medium may include a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out operations.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program code/instructions for carrying out operations may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects or operations.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer readable media according to various embodiments. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a microservice(s), module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). The method, computer system, and computer readable medium may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than those depicted in the Figures. In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed concurrently or substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.