Modeling and Analysis of Security Protocols Using Colored Petri Nets

Abstract

Security protocols are the basis of security in networks. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that these protocols function correctly. However, it is difficult to design security protocols that are immune to malicious attack, since good analysis techniques are lacking. In this paper, the current main analysis techniques using Colored Petri Nets (CP-Nets) for analysis of security protocols are introduced. Based on the techniques, a new method using CP-Nets for the analysis of security protocols is presented. Specially, in the new method, an intruder CP-Net model is presented that provides an open-ended base for the integration of multiple attack tactics. This is a viable approach to overcome the state space explosion problem. Furthermore, the automated analysis tools CPN Tools is used. The Andrew secure RPC protocol is chosen to illustrate how a security protocol is analyzed using the new method. After model checking, an attack is found which the same as the one found by Gavin Lowe. These are stunning confirmations of the validity of the new method for analyzing security protocols.