CgNAT: Difference between revisions
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===Complaints from law enforcement agencies=== | ===Complaints from law enforcement agencies=== | ||
Law enforcement agencies find it harder to identify criminals behind an IPv4 address used by thousands of people. As a result the agency may have to tap connections of all users sharing that address to identify the criminal. <ref>{{Cite web |last=European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) |date=17 Oct 2017 |title=Are you sharing the same IP address as a criminal? Law enforcement call for the end of Carrier Grade NAT (CGN) to increase accountability online |url=https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/are-you-sharing-same-ip-address-criminal-law-enforcement-call-for-end-of-carrier-grade-nat-cgn-to-increase-accountability-online |website=europol.europa.eu}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Gözükara |first=Furkan |date=8 Nov 2021 |title=Challenges and possible severe legal consequences of application users identification from CNG-Logs |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2666281721002377 |website=sciencedirect.com}}</ref> | Law enforcement agencies find it harder to identify criminals behind an IPv4 address used by thousands of people. As a result the agency may have to tap connections of all users sharing that address to identify the criminal. <ref>{{Cite web |last=European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) |date=17 Oct 2017 |title=Are you sharing the same IP address as a criminal? Law enforcement call for the end of Carrier Grade NAT (CGN) to increase accountability online |url=https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/are-you-sharing-same-ip-address-criminal-law-enforcement-call-for-end-of-carrier-grade-nat-cgn-to-increase-accountability-online |website=europol.europa.eu |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260113094744/https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/are-you-sharing-same-ip-address-criminal-law-enforcement-call-for-end-of-carrier-grade-nat-cgn-to-increase-accountability-online |archive-date=13 Jan 2026}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Gözükara |first=Furkan |date=8 Nov 2021 |title=Challenges and possible severe legal consequences of application users identification from CNG-Logs |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2666281721002377 |website=sciencedirect.com}}</ref> | ||
A 2016 survey conducted by the European Cybercrime Centre revealed that 90% of EU Member State cyber divisions regularly encountered errors related to CGNAT technologies during investigations, sometimes forcing them to discontinue cases or employ more resource-intensive approaches. <ref>{{Cite web |last=European Police Office (Europol) |first=page 57-58 |title=IOCTA 2016 INTERNET ORGANISED CRIME THREAT ASSESSMENT |url=https://www.europol.europa.eu/iocta/2016/resources/iocta-2016.pdf |website=europol.europa.eu}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> | A 2016 survey conducted by the European Cybercrime Centre revealed that 90% of EU Member State cyber divisions regularly encountered errors related to CGNAT technologies during investigations, sometimes forcing them to discontinue cases or employ more resource-intensive approaches. <ref>{{Cite web |last=European Police Office (Europol) |first=page 57-58 |title=IOCTA 2016 INTERNET ORGANISED CRIME THREAT ASSESSMENT |url=https://www.europol.europa.eu/iocta/2016/resources/iocta-2016.pdf |website=europol.europa.eu |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260216020928/https://www.europol.europa.eu/iocta/2016/resources/iocta-2016.pdf |archive-date=16 Feb 2026}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> | ||
The process of reverse-tracking from cgNAT logs is fundamentally flawed. In criminal cases where cgNAT logs are used as primary evidence, there exists significant potential for misidentification, as the same public IP address and port combination might be reassigned to different users within a very short time. <ref name=":0" /> | The process of reverse-tracking from cgNAT logs is fundamentally flawed. In criminal cases where cgNAT logs are used as primary evidence, there exists significant potential for misidentification, as the same public IP address and port combination might be reassigned to different users within a very short time. <ref name=":0" /> | ||
===Security concerns=== | ===Security concerns=== | ||
If a malicious actor using a cgNAT IP address gets blacklisted by a server/website then all users sharing the same cgNAT IP will also get blacklisted. <ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Asturias |first=Diego |date=21 Jul 2025 |title=CGNAT: The Workaround to IPv4 Depletion [2025] |url=https://www.rapidseedbox.com/blog/cgnat |website=rapidseedbox.com}}</ref> | If a malicious actor using a cgNAT IP address gets blacklisted by a server/website then all users sharing the same cgNAT IP will also get blacklisted. <ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Asturias |first=Diego |date=21 Jul 2025 |title=CGNAT: The Workaround to IPv4 Depletion [2025] |url=https://www.rapidseedbox.com/blog/cgnat |website=rapidseedbox.com |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251106223938/https://www.rapidseedbox.com/blog/cgnat |archive-date=6 Nov 2025}}</ref> | ||
A DDoS attack targeted at one user behind a cgNAT IP address affects all users behind that address, which can disrupt service for entire neighborhoods. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Newman |first=Sean |date=8 Mar 2022 |title=There Goes the Neighborhood: The DDoS Disadvantages of Carrier Grade NAT |url=https://www.corero.com/ddos-disadvantages-of-carrier-grade-nat/ |website=corero.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Turner |first=Glen |date=1 Oct 2019 |title=The Effect of DDoS Attacks on Carrier-grade NAT Devices |url=https://www.a10networks.com/resources/videos/the-effect-of-ddos-attacks-on-carrier-grade-nat-devices/ |website=a10networks.com}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> | A DDoS attack targeted at one user behind a cgNAT IP address affects all users behind that address, which can disrupt service for entire neighborhoods. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Newman |first=Sean |date=8 Mar 2022 |title=There Goes the Neighborhood: The DDoS Disadvantages of Carrier Grade NAT |url=https://www.corero.com/ddos-disadvantages-of-carrier-grade-nat/ |website=corero.com |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250818040618/https://www.corero.com/ddos-disadvantages-of-carrier-grade-nat/ |archive-date=18 Aug 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Turner |first=Glen |date=1 Oct 2019 |title=The Effect of DDoS Attacks on Carrier-grade NAT Devices |url=https://www.a10networks.com/resources/videos/the-effect-of-ddos-attacks-on-carrier-grade-nat-devices/ |website=a10networks.com |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250903220230/https://www.a10networks.com/resources/videos/the-effect-of-ddos-attacks-on-carrier-grade-nat-devices/ |archive-date=3 Sep 2025}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> | ||
===Service limitations=== | ===Service limitations=== | ||
Because multiple people share the same public IP address, they are unreachable from the internet. This prevents them from hosting personal websites or having remote access to home security cameras or personal computers. cgNAT basically breaks all protocols that require direct connection to work. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Swer |first=Daryll |date=25 Mar 2021 |title=Shortcomings of CGNAT and Potential Workarounds |url=https://www.daryllswer.com/shortcomings-of-cgnat-and-potential-work-arounds/ |website=daryllswer.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pros & Cons Deploying Carrier Grade NAT (CGNAT) |url=https://brandergroup.net/2023/01/benefits-and-issues-deploying-carrier-grade-network-address-translation-cgnat/ |website=brandergroup.net}}</ref> | Because multiple people share the same public IP address, they are unreachable from the internet. This prevents them from hosting personal websites or having remote access to home security cameras or personal computers. cgNAT basically breaks all protocols that require direct connection to work. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Swer |first=Daryll |date=25 Mar 2021 |title=Shortcomings of CGNAT and Potential Workarounds |url=https://www.daryllswer.com/shortcomings-of-cgnat-and-potential-work-arounds/ |website=daryllswer.com |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260203193145/https://www.daryllswer.com/shortcomings-of-cgnat-and-potential-work-arounds/ |archive-date=3 Feb 2026}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pros & Cons Deploying Carrier Grade NAT (CGNAT) |url=https://brandergroup.net/2023/01/benefits-and-issues-deploying-carrier-grade-network-address-translation-cgnat/ |website=brandergroup.net |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260216021001/https://brandergroup.net/2023/01/benefits-and-issues-deploying-carrier-grade-network-address-translation-cgnat/ |archive-date=16 Feb 2026}}</ref> | ||
To circumvent these limitations, ISPs typically offer subscriptions for dedicated IPv4 addresses or IPv6 tunnels.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 Mar 2024 |title=About Static IP addresses |url=https://www.att.com/support/article/u-verse-high-speed-internet/KM1002300/ |website=att.com}}</ref> | To circumvent these limitations, ISPs typically offer subscriptions for dedicated IPv4 addresses or IPv6 tunnels.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 Mar 2024 |title=About Static IP addresses |url=https://www.att.com/support/article/u-verse-high-speed-internet/KM1002300/ |website=att.com |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251111020054/https://www.att.com/support/article/u-verse-high-speed-internet/KM1002300/ |archive-date=11 Nov 2025}}</ref> | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
<references /> | <references /> | ||
Revision as of 02:10, 16 February 2026
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Carrier-Grade Network Address Translation (cgNAT, also known as LSN and NAT444) is used by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to mitigate IPv4 address exhaustion by making thousands of customers share a single public IPv4 address.
Complaints from law enforcement agencies
Law enforcement agencies find it harder to identify criminals behind an IPv4 address used by thousands of people. As a result the agency may have to tap connections of all users sharing that address to identify the criminal. [1][2]
A 2016 survey conducted by the European Cybercrime Centre revealed that 90% of EU Member State cyber divisions regularly encountered errors related to CGNAT technologies during investigations, sometimes forcing them to discontinue cases or employ more resource-intensive approaches. [3][2]
The process of reverse-tracking from cgNAT logs is fundamentally flawed. In criminal cases where cgNAT logs are used as primary evidence, there exists significant potential for misidentification, as the same public IP address and port combination might be reassigned to different users within a very short time. [2]
Security concerns
If a malicious actor using a cgNAT IP address gets blacklisted by a server/website then all users sharing the same cgNAT IP will also get blacklisted. [4]
A DDoS attack targeted at one user behind a cgNAT IP address affects all users behind that address, which can disrupt service for entire neighborhoods. [5][6][4]
Service limitations
Because multiple people share the same public IP address, they are unreachable from the internet. This prevents them from hosting personal websites or having remote access to home security cameras or personal computers. cgNAT basically breaks all protocols that require direct connection to work. [7][8]
To circumvent these limitations, ISPs typically offer subscriptions for dedicated IPv4 addresses or IPv6 tunnels.[9]
References
- ↑ European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) (17 Oct 2017). "Are you sharing the same IP address as a criminal? Law enforcement call for the end of Carrier Grade NAT (CGN) to increase accountability online". europol.europa.eu. Archived from the original on 13 Jan 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Gözükara, Furkan (8 Nov 2021). "Challenges and possible severe legal consequences of application users identification from CNG-Logs". sciencedirect.com.
- ↑ European Police Office (Europol), page 57-58. "IOCTA 2016 INTERNET ORGANISED CRIME THREAT ASSESSMENT" (PDF). europol.europa.eu. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 Feb 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 Asturias, Diego (21 Jul 2025). "CGNAT: The Workaround to IPv4 Depletion [2025]". rapidseedbox.com. Archived from the original on 6 Nov 2025.
- ↑ Newman, Sean (8 Mar 2022). "There Goes the Neighborhood: The DDoS Disadvantages of Carrier Grade NAT". corero.com. Archived from the original on 18 Aug 2025.
- ↑ Turner, Glen (1 Oct 2019). "The Effect of DDoS Attacks on Carrier-grade NAT Devices". a10networks.com. Archived from the original on 3 Sep 2025.
- ↑ Swer, Daryll (25 Mar 2021). "Shortcomings of CGNAT and Potential Workarounds". daryllswer.com. Archived from the original on 3 Feb 2026.
- ↑ "Pros & Cons Deploying Carrier Grade NAT (CGNAT)". brandergroup.net. Archived from the original on 16 Feb 2026.
- ↑ "About Static IP addresses". att.com. 8 Mar 2024. Archived from the original on 11 Nov 2025.