IPv6 Address Geolocation via MAC Extraction

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Current IPv6 address geolocation techniques are inadequate in providing precise location information, often resulting in coarse-grained location data with significant errors, and existing privacy measures like SLAAC PE are not universally adopted, leaving legacy EUI-64 addressing modes vulnerable to privacy attacks, such as IPvSeeYou, which can geolocate devices with street-level precision.

Innovation Solution

The method involves actively probing for WAN MAC addresses embedded in IPv6 addresses, correlating them with WiFi BSSIDs using wardriving databases, and employing an algorithm to infer the offset between WAN and WiFi MAC addresses to geolocate devices, enabling street-level precision geolocation of IPv6 network prefixes and clustering devices connected to the same provider router.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If EUI-64 addressing mode is used to generate IPv6 addresses, then device identification and location tracking are enabled, but device privacy and security are compromised

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvegeolocation precisionVSAvoidprivacy vulnerability

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the MAC address from the IPv6 address by identifying and removing the EUI-64 format markers (ff:fe) and the U/L bit. This extraction allows the system to isolate the hardware identifier component from the full IPv6 address, enabling geolocation while the original IPv6 address structure remains intact for network communication purposes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent creates a mapping between IPv6 addresses and their corresponding MAC addresses by storing extracted MAC addresses in a database. This copying mechanism allows the system to reference the hardware identifier (which can be geolocated) without exposing or modifying the actual IPv6 address, thus maintaining network functionality while enabling location tracking.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

2Object-affected harmful factors

If SLAAC PE privacy extensions are implemented, then device privacy is protected, but geolocation capability is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprivacy protectionVSAvoidgeolocation precision

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of trying to extract location information from the IPv6 address directly (which fails with SLAAC PE due to random IIDs), the patent inverts the approach by extracting the MAC address from the IPv6 address and using the MAC address for geolocation. This inversion bypasses the privacy protection mechanism of SLAAC PE, as the MAC address remains static and can be geolocated even when the IPv6 address changes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

3Adaptability or versatility

If MAC addresses are embedded in IPv6 addresses via EUI-64, then hardware identification is enabled, but manufacturer fingerprinting and tracking become possible

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvehardware identificationVSAvoidmanufacturer fingerprinting

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSObject-generated harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentUS12021829B2Discovering and clustering IPv6 addresses by hardware identifiers

Publication Date: 2024.06.25 THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY

AI summary

The invention relates to discovering and clustering Internet protocol addresses. For example, the invention can include discovering an IPv6 address of an Internet-facing device on a network, where the IPv6 address is associated with a wide area network (WAN) media access control (MAC) address and a WiFi basic service set identifier (BSSID), identifying an associated BSSID in WiFi geolocation databases based on the WAN and WiFi BSSID, and geolocating the Internet-facing device by retrieving a location record in the WiFi geolocation databases for the associated BSSID.