Mitigating Security Threats in Service Function Chaining: A Study on Attack Vectors and Solutions for Enhancing NFV and SDN-Based Network Architectures

Abstract

Service Function Chaining (SFC) is a networking architecture that enables the dynamic sequencing of network functions to manage various traffic types in contemporary software-defined infrastructures. It relies on two core technologies: Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN), both of which provide programmability, flexibility, and scalability. However, these benefits come at the cost of increased security vulnerabilities across multiple layers of the SFC stack. This paper critically examines the possible vulnerabilities in SFC, focusing on key attack vectors such as man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks, service chain manipulation, data leakage, and denial of service (DoS). The paper discusses the expanded attack surface introduced by the programmability of SDN, the multi-tenancy of NFV, and the dynamic nature of SFC orchestration. To counteract these threats, various mitigation strategies, including cryptographic safeguards, policy enforcement, secure service orchestration, and advanced traffic monitoring, are discussed.

attack vectors, mitigation strategies, network function virtualization, security vulnerabilities, service function chaining, software-defined networking