A risk associated with SDN is the expanded attack surface that it introduces. SDN is a network architecture that decouples the control plane from the data plane, allowing centralized and programmable management of network devices and traffic. However, this also exposes new attack vectors and vulnerabilities that can compromise the security and performance of the network. For example, an attacker can target the SDN controller, which is the core component that communicates with and controls the network devices. A successful attack on the SDN controller can result in denial of service, unauthorized access, data leakage, or network hijacking. An attacker can also exploit the communication channels between the SDN controller and the network devices, such as the OpenFlow protocol, to intercept, modify, or inject malicious messages or commands. Additionally, an attacker can leverage malicious or compromised applications that run on top of the SDN controller to manipulate or disrupt the network behavior. Verified Reference:
https://www.isaca.org/resources/isaca-journal/issues/2016/volume-4/benefits-and-the-security-risk-of-software-defined-networking
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40860-022-00171-8