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IPsec Internals: AH, ESP and the Two Databases

by Froga

The machinery under an IPsec VPN — which of the two protocols encrypts and which only authenticates, what the SPI identifies, and the difference between the policy database that decides and the association database that holds the keys.

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ESP encrypts. AH does not — it provides integrity and data origin authentication and nothing else, so an AH-protected packet travels in plain sight and simply cannot be altered without detection. In practice almost everything uses ESP, because ESP can also authenticate, which makes AH largely redundant.

IPsec offers two protection protocols. Which one provides confidentiality?

multiple choice

AESP — Encapsulating Security Payload
BAH — Authentication Header
CBoth provide it equally
DNeither; IPsec only authenticates
One of the two names describes wrapping something up. The other describes proving who sent it.
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