VTun
Encyclopedia : V : VT : VTU : VTun
VTun claims to be 'the easiest way to create Virtual Tunnels over TCP/IP networks with traffic shaping, compression, and encryption.' It supports IP, PPP and SLIP. Old enough to include PPP support, it exists as the reference implementation of the Tun/Tap user-space tunnel driver which was included in the Linux kernel as of version 2.4, also originally developed by Maxim Krasnyansky. Bishop Clark is the current maintainer.
The philosophy behind VTun is one of simplicity: the maintainers only entertain proposals which extend the software along a basic model of connectivity -- and nothing but.
Networking
Like most other applications of its nature, VTun creates a single connection between two machines, over which it multiplexes all traffic. VTun connections are currently initiated via a TCP connection from the client to the server. The server then initiates a UDP connection to the client, if the UDP protocol is requested. The claim that this marginally improves security is challenged, and the idea that the server may be contacting the client is a source of some confusion for system administrators new to the idea.The software allows the creation of tunnels, for routing traffic in a manner similar to PPP, as well as a bridge-friendly ethertap connection. Both are standard features of the Tun/Tap driver.
Authentication
VTun currently only uses a Private Shared Key to negotiate a handshake via a challenge and response. There is no support today, despite repeated request, for any other authentication method.Non-SSL Versions
A continual source of concern, and the target of more than one strongly-worded security assessment, the VTun server and client binary applications can be built completely without SSL built-in. When such binaries are used, the encryption between both endpoints is only a simple XOR function, and is completely trivial to decode.Links
- The VTun [Home Page]
- VTun on [Sourceforge]
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