Journal of Cyber Security and Risk Auditing

Journal of Cyber Security and Risk Auditing

ISSN: 3079-5354 (Online)

Publishing model:

: Open access
open accessOpen Access

Article

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A Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain Framework for Secure Authentication and Flow Verification in Hierarchical SDN

by 

Stefina Macwan Orcid link ;

Sailesh Suryanarayan Iyer Orcid link ;

Rami Shehab Orcid link ;

Amir Alqatish Orcid link

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Published: 2026/06/30

Abstract

Software Defined Networking (SDN) has transformed network management by separating the control plane from the data plane. This enables logically centralized control and network-wide policy enforcement. Centralization is especially important in hierarchical SDN architectures used in large-scale, geo-distributed data centers. Our work addresses two major threats in hierarchical SDN: Cluster Membership Exploits (CME), which allow unauthorized controllers to join the controller cluster, and malicious flow manipulation, in which compromised controllers inject unauthorized flow entries. These attacks can threaten the cluster's integrity, enable unauthorized system access, and disrupt tenant segregation. To tackle these problems, we have developed a security architecture that uses Hyperledger Fabric and hierarchical OpenDaylight controllers. This architecture leverages Hyperledger Fabric’s endorsement policies, immutable ledger, and permissioned transaction processing to enforce controller membership validation and flow integrity. All flow installations require approval from both the root controller and the corresponding regional controller. With the help of decentralized consensus mechanisms and the immutability of blockchain, our solution offers secure authentication and authorization of all connections within the cluster, as well as pre-installation verification and tamper-evident logging of flow-related control-plane operations.

Keywords

Software Defined NetworksBlockchain TechnologyCluster Membership ExploitData Centers.

Doi Link

https://doi.org/10.63180/jcsra.thestap.2026.2.5

How to Cite the Article

Macwan, S., Iyer, S. S., Shihab, R., & Alqatish, A. (2026). A Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain Framework for Secure Authentication and Flow Verification in Hierarchical SDN. Journal of Cyber Security and Risk Auditing, 2026(2), 215–237. https://doi.org/10.63180/jcsra.thestap.2026.2.5

A Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain Framework for Secure Authentication and Flow Verification in Hierarchical SDN is licensed under CC BY 4.0CCBY

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