Operational Implications of IPv6 Packets with Extension Headers
draft-gont-v6ops-ipv6-ehs-packet-drops-01
IPv6 Operations Working Group (v6ops) F. Gont
Internet-Draft SI6 Networks / UTN-FRH
Intended status: Informational N. Hilliard
Expires: April 17, 2016 INEX
G. Doering
SpaceNet AG
W. Liu
Huawei Technologies
W. Kumari
Google
October 15, 2015
Operational Implications of IPv6 Packets with Extension Headers
draft-gont-v6ops-ipv6-ehs-packet-drops-01
Abstract
This document summarizes the security and operational implications of
IPv6 extension headers, and attempts to analyze reasons why packets
with IPv6 extension headers may be dropped in the public Internet.
Status of This Memo
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This Internet-Draft will expire on April 17, 2016.
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Internet-Draft IPv6 Extension Headers October 2015
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Previous Work on IPv6 Extension Headers . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Security Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. Operational Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.1. Requirement to process required layer-3/layer-4
information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.2. Route-Processor Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.3. Inability to Perform Fine-grained Filtering . . . . . . . 7
5. A Possible Attack Vector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
7. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
8. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
9. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
9.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
9.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1. Introduction
IPv6 Extension Headers (EHs) allow for the extension of the IPv6
protocol, and provide support for core functionality such as IPv6
fragmentation. However, common implementation limitations suggest
that EHs present a challenge for IPv6 packet routing equipment, and
evidence exists to suggest that IPv6 packets with EHs may be
intentionally dropped on the public Internet in some network
deployments.
Discussions about the security and operational implications of IPv6
extension headers are a regular feature in IETF working groups and
other places. Often in these discussions, important security and
operational issues are overlooked.
This document tries to raise awareness about the security and
operational implications of IPv6 Extension Headers, and presents
reasons why some networks drop packets containing IPv6 Extension
Headers.
Section 2 of this document summarizes the work that has been done in
the area of IPv6 extension headers. Section 3 discusses the security
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