On the Impact of Flooding Attacks on 5G Slicing with Different VNF
Sharing Configurations
Abstract
Virtualized Network Function (VNF) sharing among multiple Fifth
Generation (5G) slices allows network operators to increase the
efficiency and utilization of the network. However, this sharing of VNFs
can result in a degradation of the performance of the slices in the
presence of an attack. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of flooding
attacks on the performance of 5G slices with different VNF sharing
configurations. We consider two VNF sharing configurations, in the first
configuration, the Session Management Function (SMF) and User Plane
Function (UPF) are shared among the deployed slices, while the SMF and
UPF of the slices are isolated in the second configuration. The
performance of these configurations is evaluated using different traffic
types under two flooding attack scenarios; a ping flood attack targeting
the data plane of 5G network, and a registration request flood attack
directed at the control plane of 5G network. Our results showed
different responses in the control and data planes. In the data plane,
isolating VNFs of the slices provides better performance and mitigates
the adverse effects of the attacks studied.