One document matched: draft-wbeebee-nd-updates-00.txt




Network Working Group                                           H. Singh
Internet-Draft                                                 W. Beebee
Intended status: Standards Track                     Cisco Systems, Inc.
Expires: March 4, 2008                                    September 2007


 Data Forwarding and Address Resolution Updates to 2461bis and 2462bis
                      draft-wbeebee-nd-updates-00

Status of this Memo

   By submitting this Internet-Draft, each author represents that any
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   This Internet-Draft will expire on March 4, 2008.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2007).

Abstract

   RFC 2461 [ND] describes host data forwarding and address resolution.
   However, nine years after the ND protocol became an RFC, IPv6 hosts
   still do not fully comply with RFC 2461 [ND].  In particular, hosts
   incorrectly implement on- vs. off-link data forwarding.  The set of
   new requirements beyond what has been specified in RFC 2461 [ND] and
   RFC 2462 [ADDRCONF] is restricted to clarifications deemed necessary
   to facilitate correct implementation.  The intention of this document
   is to incorporate normative changes into



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   draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11 [NDbis] and
   draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2462bis-08 [ADDRCONFbis] when new work on these
   documents can be accepted.


Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.  Changes to draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11 . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   3.  Changes to draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2462bis-08 . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   4.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   5.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   6.  Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   7.  References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
     7.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
     7.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements . . . . . . . . . . 12

































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1.  Introduction

   IPv6 host data forwarding and address resolution is complex.  For
   example, RFC 2461 [ND] (section 3.1) implies that if the RA received
   by the host does not advertise any prefix, then the host must send
   all non-link-local data to the default router.  This section of the
   RFC also implies that no address resolution is to be performed in
   this case.  Sections 5.2 and 7.2.2 imply that the host performs
   address resolution before transmitting a packet if the destination of
   the packet is on the same link as the host.  Some current host
   implementations perform address resolution in all cases even when the
   destination is not clearly on-link.  However, RFC 2461 [ND] section
   6.3.4 implies that hosts must clearly determine that a destination is
   on-link before performing address resolution.

   These implications in RFC 2461 [ND] need to be made explicit.
   Failure of host implementations to comply can result in lack of IPv6
   connectivity.  One example, included in
   draft-wbeebee-nd-implementation-problems-00
   [I.D.nd-implementation-problems], follows: a host receives an RA with
   no prefix advertised and incorrectly decides to perform address
   resolution when the host should have sent all traffic to the default
   router.  The router does not respond to the address resolution and
   the layer 2 driver of the host stops transmitting IPv6 packets.

   Proposed changes to draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11 [NDbis] and
   draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2462bis-08 [ADDRCONFbis] are presented.


2.  Changes to draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11

   Proposed changes to draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11 [NDbis] follow:

   o  The following paragraph from section 3.1 of
      draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11 [NDbis] describes intended behavior
      when a host receives an RA without an advertised prefix and needs
      to add a reference to section 6.3.4 where the case is described in
      more detail:

         "Multiple prefixes can be associated with the same link.  By
         default, hosts learn all on-link prefixes from Router
         Advertisements.  However, routers may be configured to omit
         some or all prefixes from Router Advertisements.  In such cases
         hosts assume that destinations are off-link and send traffic to
         routers.  A router can then issue redirects as appropriate."

      to add the following sentence at the end of the paragraph:




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         See Section 6.3.4 of this document for more details when no
         prefix is advertised in the Router Advertisement.

   o  Section 2.1 of draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11 [NDbis] should
      include the following sentence in the on-link definition:

         Manual configuration of a host introduces its own set of
         security considerations and is beyond the scope of this on-link
         definition.

   o  Section 6.3.4 of draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11 [NDbis] should
      include the following paragraph (after the first paragraph):

         The on-link definition in section 2.1 describes the only means
         for on-link determination.  DHCPv6 or any other configuration
         on the host MUST NOT be used for on-link determination.

   o  Section 6.3.4 of draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11 [NDbis] should
      include the following paragraph (before the Prefix Information
      Option (PIO) on-link paragraph):

         Without advertised prefixes, manual configuration, Redirects,
         or on-link information from Neighbor Advertisements or other
         Neighbor Discovery Messages, hosts MUST NOT assume a default
         prefix length, MUST send all non-link-local traffic to the
         default router, and MUST NOT issue an NS to resolve any
         destination other than a link-local address.  Additional on-
         link information can only indicate that certain specific
         prefixes or addresses are on-link, and does not change this
         off-link default.

   o  At the end of the PIO on-link paragraph of section 6.3.4, the
      following text should be added:

         If the RA advertises a prefix with the on-link bit set, the
         host MAY ignore the on-link indication from the RA and treat
         the prefix as off-link.  If the host decides to send all
         traffic (including on-link traffic) to the default router, then
         the host MUST NOT issue an NS to resolve a destination other
         than a link-local address.

         In the absence of other sources of on-link information,
         including Redirects, regardless of whether the host performs
         DHCPv6 and/or stateless autoconfiguration, the host MUST adhere
         to the following rules for addresses contained within the
         advertised prefix with the on-link bit set and an expired Valid
         Lifetime:




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         1.  The host MUST NOT issue an NS to resolve a destination
             other than a link-local address.

         2.  The host MUST send all non-link-local traffic to the
             default router.

         In the presence of Redirects, only the on-link behavior of the
         destination addresses of the original packets for which the
         Redirects were sent change from what is specified in the rules
         above.  These destination addresses are considered to be on-
         link and the host MAY now send non-link-local traffic destined
         to the destination addresses directly without sending it first
         to the default router.  Since the Redirect contains all the
         information necessary to resolve the address of the destination
         host, the source host MUST NOT issue an NS to resolve a
         destination other than a link-local address.

   o  Section 6.3.2 of draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11 [NDbis] should
      include the following variable at the end of section.  We have
      brought this variable from section 5.1 in
      draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2462bis-08 [ADDRCONFbis] to
      draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11 [NDbis] so that implementers are
      aware that the default value of this variable is 1.

      DupAddrDetectTransmits  The number of consecutive Neighbor
              Solicitation messages sent while performing Duplicate
              Address Detection on a tentative address.  The default
              value of this variable is 1.

   o  Section 6.3.4 of draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11 [NDbis] should
      include the following paragraph (after the paragraph that begins
      with "For each Prefix Information option with the on-link flag
      set, a host does the following:"):

         The host MUST NOT add a directly connected route to the prefix
         from an assigned address, independent of the information about
         the prefix received from the sources described in section 2.1.
         This behavior can lead to incorrectly adding a prefix to the
         Prefix List and incorrect on-link determination by the host.

   o  Section 5.2 of draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11 [NDbis] should add
      the following paragraph (after the second paragraph):

         Newer implementations, which are compliant with
         draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11 [NDbis] MUST adhere to the
         following rules.  Older implementations, which are compliant
         with RFC 2461 [ND] but not draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11
         [NDbis] may remain as is.  If the Default Router List is empty



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         and there is no other source of on-link information about any
         address or prefix:

         1.  The host MUST NOT assume that all destinations are on-link.

         2.  The host MUST NOT perform address resolution for non-link-
             local addresses.

         3.  Since the host cannot assume the destination is on-link,
             and off-link traffic cannot be sent to the default router
             (since the Default Router List is empty), address
             resolution has failed.  As specified in the last paragraph
             of section 7.2.2 of draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11 [NDbis],
             when address resolution fails, the host SHOULD send an
             ICMPv6 Destination Unreachable message.

         On-link information concerning particular addresses and
         prefixes can make those specific addresses and prefixes on-
         link, but does not change the default behavior mentioned above
         for addresses and prefixes not specified.
         draft-ietf-v6ops-onlinkassumption-04
         [I.D.ietf-v6ops-onlinkassumptions] provides justification for
         these rules.

   o  Section 4.5 of draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11 [NDbis] should have
      the following text added (in the first paragraph after the
      sentence "Routers send Redirect packets to inform...":

         Since the Redirect contains all the information necessary to
         resolve the address of the destination host, the source host
         MUST NOT issue an NS to resolve the destination contained
         within the Redirect.

   o  A new section titled On-link and Off-link Decision Rules needs to
      be added to draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11 [NDbis] as an Appendix
      or as a section below section 6.3.4 of
      draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11 [NDbis].

         This section clarifies both on-link and off-link determination
         through providing a complete set of rules that decides in all
         cases whether an address is on or off-link.

         1.  In the absence of other sources of on-link information,
             including Redirects, if the RA advertises a prefix with the
             on-link(L) bit set and the Valid Lifetime expires, the host
             MUST then consider the prefix to be off-link.  However, if
             the RA advertises a prefix with the on-link bit set, the
             host MAY ignore the on-link indication from the RA and



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             treat the prefix as off-link.

         2.  If an IPv6 router sends an RA with no prefix advertised and
             the M bit set and does not send any Redirects, the host
             assumes destinations with non-link-local traffic are off-
             link.

         3.  On-link determination and addresses acquired using DHCPv6
             SHOULD NOT persist across IPv6 interface initializations.
             Note that stable storage can be used for addresses acquired
             with stateless address autoconfiguration.  However, the
             Preferred and Valid Lifetimes must be retained if this
             approach is used.

         4.  A prefix is on-link if it is covered by one of the link's
             prefixes, specified as the target of a Redirect message, or
             a Neighbor Advertisement or any Neighbor Discovery message
             is received for the address.  No other information can be
             used for on-link determination.  DHCPv6 or any other
             configuration on the host MUST NOT be used for off-link
             determination.  Manual configuration of a host introduces
             its own complications for on-link determination and is
             beyond the scope of this section.

         5.  If the Default Router List is empty and there is no other
             source of on-link information about any address or prefix:

                1.  The host MUST NOT assume that all destinations are
                    on-link.

                1.  The host MUST NOT perform address resolution for
                    non-link-local addresses.

                Since the host cannot assume the destination is on-link,
                and off-link traffic cannot be sent to the default
                router (since the Default Router List is empty), address
                resolution has failed.  When address resolution fails,
                the host SHOULD send an ICMPv6 Destination Unreachable
                message.

                On-link information concerning particular addresses and
                prefixes can make those specific addresses and prefixes
                on-link, but does not change the default behavior
                mentioned above for addresses and prefixes not
                specified.






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3.  Changes to draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2462bis-08

   Proposed changes to draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2462bis-08 [ADDRCONFbis]
   follow:

   o  The following paragraph from section 5.4 of
      draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2462bis-08 [ADDRCONFbis] needs to change:

         "Each individual unicast address SHOULD be tested for
         uniqueness.  Note that there are implementations deployed that
         only perform Duplicate Address Detection for the link-local
         address and skip the test for the global address using the same
         interface identifier as that of the link-local address.
         Whereas this document does not invalidate such implementations,
         this kind of 'optimization' is NOT RECOMMENDED, and new
         implementations MUST NOT do that optimization.  This
         optimization came from the assumption that all of an
         interface's addresses are generated from the same identifier.
         However, the assumption does actually not stand; new types of
         addresses have been introduced where the interface identifiers
         are not necessarily the same for all unicast addresses on a
         single interface [RFC3041] [RFC3972].  Requiring to perform
         Duplicate Address Detection for all unicast addresses will make
         the algorithm robust for the current and future such special
         interface identifiers."

      to read as follows:

         Each individual unicast address SHOULD be tested for
         uniqueness.  Note that there are implementations deployed that
         only perform Duplicate Address Detection for the link-local
         address and skip the test for the global address using the same
         interface identifier as that of the link-local address.
         Whereas this document does not invalidate such implementations,
         this kind of 'optimization' is NOT RECOMMENDED, and new
         implementations MUST NOT do that optimization.  This
         optimization came from the assumption that all of an
         interface's addresses are generated from the same identifier.
         However, even with this assumption, skipping DAD for non-link-
         local addresses with manual configuration creates an additional
         problem.  This optimization allows an interface to claim a
         duplicate address in a way that would not be detected.
         Further, new types of addresses have been introduced where the
         interface identifiers are not necessarily the same for all
         unicast addresses on a single interface [RFC3041] [RFC3972].
         Requiring an interface to perform DAD for all unicast addresses
         will make the algorithm more robust.




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   o  Section 5.5.3 of draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2462bis-08 [ADDRCONFbis] has
      the following paragraph:

         "Note that a future revision of the address architecture and a
         future link-type specific document, which will still be
         consistent with each other, could potentially allow for an
         interface identifier of length other than the value defined in
         the current documents.  Thus, an implementation should not
         assume a particular constant.  Rather, it should expect any
         lengths of interface identifiers."

      The "should not" should be replaced with "SHOULD NOT" and also the
      "should" should be replaced with "SHOULD".

   o  Section 5.7 of draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2462bis-08 [ADDRCONFbis] should
      have the following sentence added (at the end of the first
      paragraph):

         On-link determination and addresses acquired using DHCPv6
         SHOULD NOT persist across IPv6 interface initializations.


4.  Security Considerations

   The "Changes to draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2461bis-11" section of this
   document describes valid host behavior in response to a security
   threat where a rogue node can send RAs with a Valid Lifetime of zero.
   The "Changes to draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2462bis-08" section also describes
   a problem with section 5.4 of RFC 2462 [ADDRCONF] that can allow two
   hosts with the same address to avoid DAD and come online on the same
   link.


5.  IANA Considerations

   None.


6.  Acknowledgements

   Thanks to Madhu Sudan for his consistent input, ideas and review
   during the production of this document.


7.  References






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7.1.  Normative References

   [ADDRCONF]
              Thomson, S. and T. Narten, "IPv6 Address autoconfiguration
              (IPv6)", RFC 2462, December 1998.

   [ND]       Narten, T., Nordmark, E., and W. Simpson, "Neighbor
              Discovery for IP Version 6 (IPv6)", RFC 2461,
              December 1998.

   [PPPv6]    Haskin, D. and E. Allen, "IP Version 6 over PPP",
              RFC 2472, December 1998.

7.2.  Informative References

   [ADDRCONFbis]
              Thomson, S., Narten, T., and T. Jinmei, "IPv6 Address
              autoconfiguration (IPv6)",
              draft-ietf-ipv6-rfc2462bis-08 (Work In Progress),
              May 2005.

   [I.D.ietf-v6ops-onlinkassumptions]
              Roy, S., Durand, A., and J. Paugh, "IPv6 Neighbor
              Discovery On-Link Assumption Considered Harmful (IPv6)",
              draft-ietf-v6ops-onlinkassumption-04 (Work In Progress),
              January 2007.

   [I.D.nd-implementation-problems]
              Singh, H. and W. Beebee, "Known ND Implementation Problems
              (IPv6)", draft-wbeebee-nd-implementation-problems-00 (Work
              In Progress), September 2007.

   [NDbis]    Narten, T., Nordmark, E., Simpson, W., and H. Soliman,
              "Neighbor Discovery for IP Version 6 (IPv6)",
              draft-ietf-ipv6-2461bis-11 (Work In Progress), March 2007.

   [SEND]     Nikander, Ed., P., Kempf, J., and E. Nordmark, "IPv6
              Neighbor Discovery (ND) Trust Models and Threats",
              RFC 3756, May 2004.

   [TCPProb]  Paxon, V., Allman, M., Dawson, S., Fenner, W., Griner, J.,
              Heavens, I., Lahey, K., Semke, J., and B. Volz, "Known TCP
              Implementation Problems (IPv6)", RFC 2525, March 1999.








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Authors' Addresses

   Hemant Singh
   Cisco Systems, Inc.
   1414 Massachusetts Ave.
   Boxborough, MA  01719
   USA

   Phone: +1 978 936 1622
   Email: shemant@cisco.com
   URI:   http://www.cisco.com/


   Wes Beebee
   Cisco Systems, Inc.
   1414 Massachusetts Ave.
   Boxborough, MA  01719
   USA

   Phone: +1 978 936 2030
   Email: wbeebee@cisco.com
   URI:   http://www.cisco.com/





























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Full Copyright Statement

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