IPv6 Type 0 Routing Header issues

Remi Denis-Courmont rdenis at simphalempin.com
Wed Apr 25 10:46:54 CEST 2007


On Wed, 25 Apr 2007 10:24:08 +0200, Gert Doering <gert at space.net> wrote:
> Well, one could argue that the standard isn't very well-written then - a
> machine that is a *host* should NEVER forward packets, period.

That's a BSD bug, not a standard bug.

The IPv6 specification says host must process RT0. It does not say they must
forward packets as if they were routers on the sole basis of RT0 presence.

By the current spec (as far as I understand), if a host receives a RT0, it
must process it. Then it must apply the same rules to the "new" packet
destination as it would do to any packet it receives; in particular, if the
packet cannot be delivered locally, it is dropped. You do the exact same
thing when you receive a packet from link-layer while you are not the
destination at network-layer.

Whether RT0 is evil and it should be deprecated so routers do not handle it
anymore is the real problem.

--
Rémi Denis-Courmont
http://www.remlab.net/



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