Example embodiments herein include a verification process that provides a safe and efficient mechanism for recovering security associations between network devices. More specifically, the verification process transmits a secured message from a first network device to a second network device across a network. Furthermore, the security association includes a parent process and a corresponding child process. The verification process detects, at the first network device, an incompatibility in the security association between the first network device and the second network device. Next, the verification process transmits a status query from the first network device to the second network device in order to determine the status of the security association between the first network device and the second network device. In response, the verification process receives a verifiable reply message that is indicative of the status of the security association between the first network device and the second network device.