Search Results

Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) achieves deterministic communication using mechanisms like Time-Aware Shaping, which manages the timing of network traffic streams using a Gate Control List (GCL). The GCL operates according to a cyclic schedule by opening and closing gates for priority (egress) queues in out-bound ports. However, the cyclic schedule in the GCL introduces potential security vulnerabilities to schedule-based attacks. This type of attack exploits TSN’s deterministic schedules to manipulate traffic flow and can impact availability and safety. Traditional intrusion detection systems (IDS) are commonly employed in TSN to detect malicious activities by monitoring traffic patterns and bandwidth usage. However, schedule-based attacks can align malicious packets with legitimate traffic, making the attack more stealthy and harder to detect by rate-based IDS. This paper presents a novel schedule-based attack that synchronizes malicious traffic to exploit predictability in TSN’s GCL schedule. This attack causes an adversarial blocking in which low-priority traffic delays higher-priority traffic without being detected using a rate-based IDS. We demonstrate the feasibility and impact of this schedule-based attack on TSN with off-the-shelf hardware.