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DoS-Resilient Onion Message Routing in the Lightning Network
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- Author / Creator
- Bashiri, Amin
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Onion messages (OMs) are private messages sent between nodes in the Lightning Network (LN) using onion routing. While they are intended to enable interesting applications such as reusable invoices, refunds, and asynchronous payments, OMs may also be used for unintended applications such as streaming data or spam. LN nodes can impose a rate limit on forwarding OMs to mitigate this. However, if not carried out carefully, the rate limit can expose the network to a denial of service (DoS) attack, where an adversary may disrupt or degrade the OM service by flooding the network. This DoS threat is particularly concerning because, under current specifications, a single OM can traverse hundreds of nodes, affecting all the nodes on its way. In addition, the adversary can hide their true identity thanks to the privacy-preserving nature of onion routing. We propose a simple solution to address this threat with two main components. The first component limits the distance over which OMs can travel. For this purpose, we introduce two methods: a hard leash and a soft leash. The hard leash strictly limits how far OMs can travel, while the soft leash makes it exponentially harder for OMs to traverse long distances. While the first method requires changes in the message format, the second method can be easily adopted without altering OMs. The second component of our solution consists of a set of simple yet effective forwarding and routing rules. We demonstrate that when these rules and the proposed leashes are applied, an adversary cannot significantly degrade the onion messaging service, assuming that the adversary does not control a significant fraction of funds in the network.
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- Subjects / Keywords
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- Graduation date
- Fall 2024
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Master of Science
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- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Library with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.