  Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is a novel architectural model for cloud
network infrastructure, improving resource utilization, scalability and
administration. SDN deployments increasingly rely on virtual switches executing
on commodity operating systems with large code bases, which are prime targets
for adversaries attacking the net- work infrastructure. We describe and
implement TruSDN, a framework for bootstrapping trust in SDN infrastructure
using Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX), allowing to securely deploy SDN
components and protect communication between network endpoints. We introduce
ephemeral flow-specific pre-shared keys and propose a novel defense against
cuckoo attacks on SGX enclaves. TruSDN is secure under a powerful adversary
model, with a minor performance overhead.
