Marmot: a Light-weight Secure SRv6 Header Authentication System.

As network architectures continue to evolve, ensuring security and data integrity becomes paramount. This paper presents Marmot, a novel lightweight authentication system tailored specifically for SRv6 (Segment Routing with IPv6) headers. Marmot addresses the challenges of authentication and integrity within SRv6 by introducing a unique approach that amalgamates the scalability benefits of SRv6 with the HMAC (Hash-based Message Authentication Code) framework. This fusion is realized through the strategic use of mirror ports for headend nodes, with P nodes engaging in mutual authentication. Marmot offers a triad of advantages: scalability, simplicity, and performance. By harnessing the power of mirroring ports and HashChain-based signatures, the system ensures the integrity of SRv6-based communications while maintaining the efficiency required in modern network environments.