Javascript disabled? Like other modern websites, the IETF Datatracker relies on Javascript. Please enable Javascript for full functionality.

A Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4)
draft-ietf-idr-bgp4-rfc4271bis-01

Versions:

Document	Type	Active Internet-Draft (idr WG)
	Authors	Yakov Rekhter , Tony Li , Susan Hares , John Scudder
	Last updated	2026-07-06
	Replaces	draft-scudder-idr-bgp4-rfc4271bis
	RFC stream	Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
	Intended RFC status	(None)
	Formats	txt html xml htmlized bibtex bibxml
	Additional resources	GitHub Repository Mailing list discussion
Stream	WG state	WG Document
	Associated WG milestone	May 2027 Submit Base BGP specification (RFC 4271) to IESG as an Internet Standard
	Document shepherd	(None)
IESG	IESG state	I-D Exists
	Consensus boilerplate	Unknown
	Telechat date	(None)
	Responsible AD	(None)
	Send notices to	(None)

Email authors Email WG IPR References Referenced by Nits Nits v3 Search email archive

draft-ietf-idr-bgp4-rfc4271bis-01

idr Y. Rekhter
Internet-Draft Retired
Obsoletes: 4271, 6608, 8212, 9687 (if approved) T. Li
Intended status: Standards Track HPE
Expires: 7 January 2027 S. Hares
Huawei
J. Scudder, Ed.
HPE
6 July 2026

A Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4)
draft-ietf-idr-bgp4-rfc4271bis-01

Abstract

This document discusses the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), which is
an inter-Autonomous System routing protocol.

The primary function of a BGP-speaking system is to exchange network
reachability information with other BGP systems. This network
reachability information includes information on the list of
Autonomous Systems (ASes) that reachability information traverses.
This information is sufficient for constructing a graph of AS
connectivity for this reachability from which routing loops may be
pruned, and, at the AS level, some policy decisions may be enforced.

BGP-4 provides a set of mechanisms for supporting Classless Inter-
Domain Routing (CIDR). These mechanisms include support for
advertising a set of destinations as an IP prefix, and eliminating
the concept of network "class" within BGP. BGP-4 also introduces
mechanisms that allow aggregation of routes, including aggregation of
AS paths.

This document obsoletes RFC 4271.

About This Document

This note is to be removed before publishing as an RFC.

Status information for this document may be found at
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-idr-bgp4-rfc4271bis/.

Discussion of this document takes place on the IDR Working Group
mailing list (mailto:idr@ietf.org), which is archived at
https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/idr/. Subscribe at
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/idr/.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 1]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

Source for this draft and an issue tracker can be found at
https://github.com/ietf-wg-idr/RFC4271bis.

Status of This Memo

This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute
working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet-
Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

This Internet-Draft will expire on 7 January 2027.

This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components
extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as
described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are
provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1. Definition of Commonly Used Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2. Specification of Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2. Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.1. Core Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3. Summary of Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.1. Routes: Advertisement and Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.2. Routing Information Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4. Message Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.1. Message Header Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.2. OPEN Message Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.3. UPDATE Message Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 2]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

4.4. KEEPALIVE Message Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.5. NOTIFICATION Message Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
5. Path Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5.1. Path Attribute Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.1.1. ORIGIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.1.2. AS_PATH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.1.3. NEXT_HOP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.1.4. MULTI_EXIT_DISC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.1.5. LOCAL_PREF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.1.6. ATOMIC_AGGREGATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.1.7. AGGREGATOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
6. BGP Error Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
6.1. Message Header Error Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
6.2. OPEN Message Error Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
6.3. UPDATE Message Error Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
6.4. NOTIFICATION Message Error Handling . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.5. Hold Timer Expired Error Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.6. Send Hold Timer Expired Error Handling . . . . . . . . . 38
6.7. Finite State Machine Error Handling . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.8. Cease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.9. BGP Connection Collision Detection . . . . . . . . . . . 39
7. BGP Version Negotiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
8. BGP Finite State Machine (FSM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
8.1. Events for the BGP FSM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
8.1.1. Optional Events Linked to Optional Session
Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
8.1.1.1. Group 1: Automatic Administrative Events (Start/
Stop) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
8.1.1.2. Group 2: Unconfigured Peers . . . . . . . . . . . 45
8.1.1.3. Group 3: TCP processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
8.1.1.4. Group 4: BGP Message Processing . . . . . . . . . 45
8.1.2. Administrative Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
8.1.2.1. Event 1: ManualStart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
8.1.2.2. Event 2: ManualStop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
8.1.2.3. Event 3: AutomaticStart . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
8.1.2.4. Event 4:
ManualStart_with_PassiveTcpEstablishment . . . . . 48
8.1.2.5. Event 5:
AutomaticStart_with_PassiveTcpEstablishment . . . . 48
8.1.2.6. Event 6:
AutomaticStart_with_DampPeerOscillations . . . . . 49
8.1.2.7. Event 7:
AutomaticStart_with_DampPeerOscillations_and_PassiveTcpEstablishment 49
8.1.2.8. Event 8: AutomaticStop . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
8.1.3. Timer Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
8.1.3.1. Event 9: ConnectRetryTimer_Expires . . . . . . . 50
8.1.3.2. Event 10: HoldTimer_Expires . . . . . . . . . . . 50
8.1.3.3. Event 11: KeepaliveTimer_Expires . . . . . . . . 50

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 3]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

8.1.3.4. Event 12: DelayOpenTimer_Expires . . . . . . . . 50
8.1.3.5. Event 13: IdleHoldTimer_Expires . . . . . . . . . 51
8.1.4. TCP Connection-Based Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
8.1.4.1. Event 14: TcpConnection_Valid . . . . . . . . . . 51
8.1.4.2. Event 15: Tcp_CR_Invalid . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
8.1.4.3. Event 16: Tcp_CR_Acked . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
8.1.4.4. Event 17: TcpConnectionConfirmed . . . . . . . . 52
8.1.4.5. Event 18: TcpConnectionFails . . . . . . . . . . 52
8.1.5. BGP Message-Based Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
8.1.5.1. Event 19: BGPOpen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
8.1.5.2. Event 20: BGPOpen with DelayOpenTimer running . . 53
8.1.5.3. Event 21: BGPHeaderErr . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
8.1.5.4. Event 22: BGPOpenMsgErr . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
8.1.5.5. Event 23: OpenCollisionDump . . . . . . . . . . . 53
8.1.5.6. Event 24: NotifMsgVerErr . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
8.1.5.7. Event 25: NotifMsg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
8.1.5.8. Event 26: KeepAliveMsg . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
8.1.5.9. Event 27: UpdateMsg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
8.1.5.10. Event 28: UpdateMsgErr . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
8.1.5.11. Event 29: SendHoldTimer_Expires . . . . . . . . . 55
8.2. Description of FSM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
8.2.1. FSM Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
8.2.1.1. Terms "active" and "passive" . . . . . . . . . . 56
8.2.1.2. FSM and Collision Detection . . . . . . . . . . . 56
8.2.1.3. FSM and Optional Session Attributes . . . . . . . 56
8.2.1.4. FSM Event Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
8.2.1.5. FSM Actions that are Implementation Dependent . . 57
8.2.2. Finite State Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
8.2.2.1. Idle state: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
8.2.2.2. Connect State: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
8.2.2.3. Active State: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
8.2.2.4. OpenSent: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
8.2.2.5. OpenConfirm State: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
8.2.2.6. Established State: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
9. UPDATE Message Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
9.1. Decision Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
9.1.1. Phase 1: Calculation of Degree of Preference . . . . 81
9.1.2. Phase 2: Route Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
9.1.2.1. Route Resolvability Condition . . . . . . . . . . 83
9.1.2.2. Breaking Ties (Phase 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
9.1.3. Phase 3: Route Dissemination . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
9.1.4. Overlapping Routes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
9.2. Update-Send Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
9.2.1. Controlling Routing Traffic Overhead . . . . . . . . 89
9.2.1.1. Frequency of Route Advertisement . . . . . . . . 89
9.2.1.2. Frequency of Route Origination . . . . . . . . . 90
9.2.2. Efficient Organization of Routing Information . . . . 90
9.2.2.1. Information Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 4]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

9.2.2.2. Aggregating Routing Information . . . . . . . . . 91
9.3. Route Selection Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
9.4. Originating BGP routes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
10. BGP Timers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
11. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
11.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
11.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Appendix A. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
A.1. Acknowledgements Section of RFC 4271 . . . . . . . . . . 99
A.2. Acknowledgements in relationship to RFC 8212 . . . . . . 100
A.3. Acknowledgements in relationship to RFC 9687 . . . . . . 100
Appendix B. Comparison of CURRENT_SPEC with RFC 4271 . . . . . . 100
Appendix C. TCP Options that May Be Used with BGP . . . . . . . 101
Appendix D. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Appendix E. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
E.1. Path Attribute Flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
E.2. Message Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
E.3. Path Attribute Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
E.4. Error Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
E.5. Error Subcodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
E.6. AS_PATH Segment Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
E.7. References to BGP Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

1. Introduction

The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is an inter-Autonomous System
routing protocol. This version of BGP, BGP-4, was first documented
in [RFC1771], which was superceded by [RFC4271], which in turn is
obsoleted by this document.

The primary function of a BGP-speaking system is to exchange network
reachability information with other BGP systems. This network
reachability information includes information on the list of
Autonomous Systems (ASes) that reachability information traverses.
This information is sufficient for constructing a graph of AS
connectivity for this reachability, from which routing loops may be
pruned and, at the AS level, some policy decisions may be enforced.

BGP-4 provides a set of mechanisms for supporting Classless Inter-
Domain Routing (CIDR) [RFC1518] [RFC1519]. These mechanisms include
support for advertising a set of destinations as an IP prefix and
eliminating the concept of network "class" within BGP. BGP-4 also
introduces mechanisms that allow aggregation of routes, including
aggregation of AS paths.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 5]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

Routing information exchanged via the procedures documented here
supports only the destination-based forwarding paradigm, which
assumes that a router forwards a packet based solely on the
destination address carried in the IP header of the packet. This, in
turn, reflects the set of policy decisions that can (and cannot) be
enforced using BGP. BGP can support only those policies conforming
to the destination-based forwarding paradigm.

Since its first publication, BGP-4 has been extended by many other
specifications. Notable extensions include [RFC4760], which
generalizes BGP-4 to allow support for advertising routing
information of address families beyond IP Version 4 as documented in
the present specification, and IP Version 6 in particular.

1.1. Definition of Commonly Used Terms

This section provides definitions for terms that have a specific
meaning to the BGP protocol and that are used throughout the text.

Adj-RIB-In: The Adj-RIBs-In contain unprocessed routing information
that has been advertised to the local BGP speaker by its peers.

Adj-RIB-Out: The Adj-RIBs-Out contain the routes for advertisement
to specific peers by means of the local speaker's UPDATE messages.

Autonomous System (AS): The classic definition of an Autonomous
System is a set of routers under a single technical
administration, using an interior gateway protocol (IGP) and
common metrics to determine how to route packets within the AS,
and using an inter-AS routing protocol to determine how to route
packets to other ASes. Since this classic definition was
developed, it has become common for a single AS to use several
IGPs and, sometimes, several sets of metrics within an AS. The
use of the term Autonomous System stresses the fact that, even
when multiple IGPs and metrics are used, the administration of an
AS appears to other ASes to have a single coherent interior
routing plan, and presents a consistent picture of the
destinations that are reachable through it.

BGP Identifier: A 4-octet, unsigned, non-zero integer that should be
unique within an AS. The value of the BGP Identifier for a BGP
speaker is determined on startup and is the same for every local
interface and every BGP peer.

BGP speaker: A router that implements BGP.

EBGP: External BGP (BGP connection between external peers).

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 6]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

Export Policy: A local policy to be applied in selecting the
information contained in the Adj-RIBs-Out. As described in
Section 3.2, the Adj-RIBs-Out contain information that has been
selected for advertisement to other BGP speakers.

External peer: Peer that is in a different Autonomous System than
the local system.

Feasible route: An advertised route that is available for use by the
recipient.

IBGP: Internal BGP (BGP connection between internal peers).

Internal peer: Peer that is in the same Autonomous System as the
local system.

IGP: Interior Gateway Protocol - a routing protocol used to exchange
routing information among routers within a single Autonomous
System.

Import Policy: A local policy to be applied to the information
contained in the Adj-RIBs-In. As described in Section 3.2, the
Adj-RIBs-In contain information learned from other BGP speakers,
and the application of the Import Policy results in the routes
that will be considered in the Decision Process by the local BGP
speaker.

Loc-RIB: The Loc-RIB contains the routes that have been selected by
the local BGP speaker's Decision Process.

NLRI: Network Layer Reachability Information. When used without
modification, one of the IP address prefixes carried in the NLRI
field of an UPDATE message. When the NLRI field itself is
intended, it is written as such.

Route: A unit of information that pairs a set of destinations with
the attributes of a path to those destinations. The set of
destinations are systems whose IP addresses are contained in one
IP address prefix carried in the Network Layer Reachability
Information (NLRI) field of an UPDATE message. The path is the
information reported in the path attributes field of the same
UPDATE message.

RIB: Routing Information Base.

Unfeasible route: A previously advertised feasible route that is no
longer available for use.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 7]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

1.2. Specification of Requirements

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
"OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in
BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
capitals, as shown here.

2. Roadmap

TODO: This section is a work in progress. It's intended to become
the roadmap mentioned in GitHub issue #58.

This document is the keystone in the Internet Standard
TBD_STD_NUMBER, but that Internet Standard includes other documents
as well. The reader should consider all documents that are part of
that standard to be required parts of a useful BGP implementation.

Beyond that, the BGP protocol is made up of both this base
specification, and a multitude of other specifications that extend
and modify it. In the nature of things, the set of documents the
reader needs to consult to have a complete picture of the protocol
will change over time, but at time of writing the documents mentioned
here were important to be aware of.

The reader should also consult the "updated by" metadata, available
at time of writing at this document's IETF Datatracker page.

2.1. Core Extensions

[RFC4760]: This document extends BGP to provide multiprotocol
support. The original BGP protocol, documented in the present
specification, supports only IPv4 routing. Support for RFC 4760
is required in order to support IPv6 routing, and other useful
features as well.

3. Summary of Operation

The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is an inter-Autonomous System
routing protocol. It is built on experience gained with EGP (as
defined in [RFC904]) and EGP usage in the NSFNET Backbone (as
described in [RFC1092] and [RFC1093]). For more BGP-related
information, see [RFC1772], [RFC1930], [RFC1997], and [RFC2858].

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 8]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

This information is sufficient for constructing a graph of AS
connectivity, from which routing loops may be pruned, and, at the AS
level, some policy decisions may be enforced.

In the context of this document, we assume that a BGP speaker
advertises to its peers only those routes that it uses itself (in
this context, a BGP speaker is said to "use" a BGP route if it is the
most-preferred BGP route and is used in forwarding). All other cases
are outside the scope of this document.

In the context of this document, the term "IP address" refers to an
IP Version 4 address [RFC791].

The functionality documented in this specification supports the
destination-based forwarding paradigm, which assumes that a router
forwards a packet based solely on the destination address carried in
the IP header of the packet. BGP as documented herein can support
any policy conforming to the destination-based forwarding paradigm.
Some policies cannot be supported by the destination-based forwarding
paradigm, and thus require techniques such as source routing (aka
explicit routing) to be enforced. Many extensions to BGP exist,
which may enable such policies. These extensions are beyond the
scope of this document.

BGP-4 provides a set of mechanisms for supporting Classless Inter-
Domain Routing (CIDR) [RFC1518] [RFC1519]. These mechanisms include
support for advertising a set of destinations as an IP prefix and
eliminating the concept of a network "class" within BGP. BGP-4 also
includes mechanisms that allow aggregation of routes.

This document uses the term 'Autonomous System' (AS) throughout. The
classic definition of an Autonomous System is a set of routers under
a single technical administration, using an interior gateway protocol
(IGP) and common metrics to determine how to route packets within the
AS, and using an inter-AS routing protocol to determine how to route
packets to other ASes. Since this classic definition was developed,
it has become common for a single AS to use several IGPs and,
sometimes, several sets of metrics within an AS. The use of the term
Autonomous System stresses the fact that, even when multiple IGPs and
metrics are used, the administration of an AS appears to other ASes
to have a single coherent interior routing plan and presents a
consistent picture of the destinations that are reachable through it.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 9]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

BGP uses TCP [RFC793] as its transport protocol. This eliminates the
need to implement explicit update fragmentation, retransmission,
acknowledgement, and sequencing. BGP listens on TCP port 179. The
error notification mechanism used in BGP assumes that TCP supports a
"graceful" close (i.e., that all outstanding data will be delivered
before the connection is closed).

A TCP connection is formed between two systems. They exchange
messages to open and confirm the connection parameters.

The initial data flow (sometimes called "initial convergence") is the
portion of the BGP routing table that is allowed by the export
policy, called the Adj-Ribs-Out (see Section 3.2). Incremental
updates are sent as the routing tables change. BGP does not require
a periodic refresh of the routing table. To allow local policy
changes to have the correct effect without resetting any BGP
connections, a BGP speaker SHOULD either (a) retain the current
version of the routes advertised to it by all of its peers for the
duration of the connection, or (b) make use of the Route Refresh
extension [RFC2918].

KEEPALIVE messages are normally sent periodically to ensure that the
connection is live. NOTIFICATION messages are sent in response to
errors or special conditions. If a connection encounters an error
condition, a NOTIFICATION message is sent, and the connection is
closed.

A peer in a different AS is referred to as an external peer, while a
peer in the same AS is referred to as an internal peer. Internal BGP
and external BGP are commonly abbreviated as IBGP and EBGP.

If a particular AS has multiple BGP speakers and is providing transit
service for other ASes, then care must be taken to ensure a
consistent view of routing within the AS. A consistent view of the
interior routes of the AS is provided by the IGP used within the AS.
For the purpose of this document, it is assumed that a consistent
view of the routes exterior to the AS is provided by having all BGP
speakers within the AS maintain IBGP with each other.

This document specifies the base behavior of the BGP protocol. This
behavior can be, and is, modified by extension specifications. When
the protocol is extended, the new behavior is fully documented in the
extension specifications.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 10]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

3.1. Routes: Advertisement and Storage

For the purpose of this protocol, a route is defined as a unit of
information that pairs a set of destinations with the attributes of a
path to those destinations. The set of destinations are systems
whose IP addresses are contained in one IP address prefix that is
carried in the Network Layer Reachability Information (NLRI) field of
an UPDATE message, and the path is the information reported in the
path attributes field of the same UPDATE message.

Routes are advertised between BGP speakers in UPDATE messages.
Multiple routes that have the same path attributes can be advertised
in a single UPDATE message by including multiple prefixes in the NLRI
field of the UPDATE message.

Routes are stored in the Routing Information Bases (RIBs): namely,
the Adj-RIBs-In, the Loc-RIB, and the Adj-RIBs-Out, as described in
Section 3.2.

If a BGP speaker chooses to advertise a previously received route, it
may add to, or modify, the path attributes of the route before
advertising it to a peer. In some cases, such operations are
required.

BGP provides mechanisms by which a BGP speaker can inform its peers
that a previously advertised route is no longer available for use.
There are three methods by which a given BGP speaker can indicate
that a route has been withdrawn from service:

a) the IP prefix that expresses the destination for a previously
advertised route can be advertised in the WITHDRAWN ROUTES field
in the UPDATE message, thus marking the associated route as being
no longer available for use,

b) a replacement route with the same NLRI can be advertised, or

c) the BGP speaker connection can be closed, which implicitly
removes all routes the pair of speakers had advertised to each
other from service.

Changing the attribute(s) of a route is accomplished by advertising a
replacement route. The replacement route carries new (changed)
attributes and has the same address prefix as the original route.

3.2. Routing Information Base

The Routing Information Base (RIB) within a BGP speaker consists of
three distinct parts:

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 11]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

a) Adj-RIBs-In: The Adj-RIBs-In store routing information learned
from inbound UPDATE messages that were received from other BGP
speakers. Their contents represent routes that are available as
input to the Decision Process.

b) Loc-RIB: The Loc-RIB contains the local routing information the
BGP speaker selected by applying its local policies to the
routing information contained in its Adj-RIBs-In. These are the
routes that will be used by the local BGP speaker. The next hop
for each of these routes must be resolvable via the local BGP
speaker's Routing Table.

c) Adj-RIBs-Out: The Adj-RIBs-Out store information the local BGP
speaker selected for advertisement to its peers. The routing
information stored in the Adj-RIBs-Out will be carried in the
local BGP speaker's UPDATE messages and advertised to its peers.

In summary, the Adj-RIBs-In contain unprocessed routing information
that has been advertised to the local BGP speaker by its peers; the
Loc-RIB contains the routes that have been selected by the local BGP
speaker's Decision Process; and the Adj-RIBs-Out organize the routes
for advertisement to specific peers (by means of the local speaker's
UPDATE messages).

Although the conceptual model distinguishes between Adj-RIBs-In, Loc-
RIB, and Adj-RIBs-Out, this neither implies nor requires that an
implementation must maintain three separate copies of the routing
information. The choice of implementation (for example, 3 copies of
the information vs 1 copy with pointers) is not constrained by the
protocol.

Routing information that the BGP speaker uses to forward packets (or
to construct the forwarding table used for packet forwarding) is
maintained in the Routing Table. The Routing Table accumulates
routes to directly connected networks, static routes, routes learned
from the IGP protocols, and routes learned from BGP. Whether a
specific BGP route should be installed in the Routing Table, and
whether a BGP route should override a route to the same destination
installed by another source, is a local policy decision, and is not
specified in this document. In addition to actual packet forwarding,
the Routing Table is used for resolution of the next-hop addresses
specified in BGP updates (see Section 5.1.3).

4. Message Formats

This section describes message formats used by BGP.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 12]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

BGP messages are sent over TCP connections. A message is processed
only after it is entirely received. The maximum message size is 4096
octets. All implementations are required to support this maximum
message size. The smallest message that may be sent consists of a
BGP header without a data portion (19 octets).

All multi-octet fields are in network byte order.

4.1. Message Header Format

Each message has a fixed-size header. There may or may not be a data
portion following the header, depending on the message type. The
layout of the fields is shown below:

0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+ +
| |
+ +
| Marker |
+ +
| |
+-------------------------------+---------------+---------------+
| Length | Type |
+-------------------------------+---------------+

Figure 1: Message Header Format

Marker: This 16-octet field is included for compatibility; it MUST
be set to all ones.

Length: This 2-octet unsigned integer indicates the total length of
the message, including the header in octets. Thus, it allows one
to locate the (Marker field of the) next message in the TCP
stream. The value of the Length field MUST always be at least 19
and no greater than 4096, and MAY be further constrained,
depending on the message type. "padding" of extra data after the
message is not allowed. Therefore, the Length field MUST have the
smallest value required, given the rest of the message.

Type: This 1-octet unsigned integer indicates the type code of the
message. This document defines the following type codes:

1. OPEN

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 13]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

2. UPDATE

3. NOTIFICATION

4. KEEPALIVE

[RFC2918] defines one more type code.

4.2. OPEN Message Format

After a TCP connection is established, the first message sent by each
side is an OPEN message. If the OPEN message is acceptable, a
KEEPALIVE message confirming the OPEN is sent back.

In addition to the fixed-size BGP header, the OPEN message contains
the following fields:

0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Version |
+---------------+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| My Autonomous System |
+-------------------------------+
| Hold Time |
+-------------------------------+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| BGP Identifier |
+---------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Opt Parm Len |
+---------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| |
| Optional Parameters (variable) |
| |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+

Figure 2: OPEN Message Format

Version: This 1-octet unsigned integer indicates the protocol
version number of the message. The current BGP version number is
4.

My Autonomous System: This 2-octet unsigned integer indicates the
Autonomous System number of the sender.

Hold Time: This 2-octet unsigned integer indicates the number of
seconds the sender proposes for the value of the Hold Timer. Upon
receipt of an OPEN message, a BGP speaker MUST calculate the value
of the Hold Timer by using the smaller of its configured Hold Time

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 14]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

and the Hold Time received in the OPEN message. The Hold Time
MUST be either zero or at least three seconds. An implementation
MAY reject connections on the basis of the Hold Time. The
calculated value indicates the maximum number of seconds that may
elapse between the receipt of successive KEEPALIVE and/or UPDATE
messages from the sender.

BGP Identifier: This 4-octet unsigned integer indicates the BGP
Identifier of the sender. A given BGP speaker sets the value of
its BGP Identifier to an IP address that is assigned to that BGP
speaker. The value of the BGP Identifier is determined upon
startup and is the same for every local interface and BGP peer.

Optional Parameters Length: This 1-octet unsigned integer indicates
the total length of the Optional Parameters field in octets. If
the value of this field is zero, no Optional Parameters are
present.

Optional Parameters: This field contains a list of optional
parameters, in which each parameter is encoded as a <Parameter
Type, Parameter Length, Parameter Value> triplet.

0 1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-...
| Parm. Type | Parm. Length | Parameter Value (variable)
+---------------+---------------+-------...

Figure 3: Optional Parameters

Parameter Type is a one octet field that unambiguously identifies
individual parameters. Parameter Length is a one octet field that
contains the length of the Parameter Value field in octets.
Parameter Value is a variable length field that is interpreted
according to the value of the Parameter Type field.

[RFC3392] defines the Capabilities Optional Parameter.

The minimum length of the OPEN message is 29 octets (including the
message header).

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 15]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

4.3. UPDATE Message Format

UPDATE messages are used to transfer routing information between BGP
peers. The information in the UPDATE message can be used to
construct a graph that describes the relationships of the various
Autonomous Systems. By applying rules discussed below, routing
information loops and some other anomalies may be detected and
removed from inter-AS routing.

An UPDATE message is used to advertise feasible routes that share
common path attributes to a peer, or to withdraw multiple unfeasible
routes from service (see Section 3.1). An UPDATE message MAY
simultaneously advertise a feasible route and withdraw multiple
unfeasible routes from service. ([RFC4760] specifies an alternate
encoding to advertise and withdraw routes, and can be used to support
address families other than IP Version 4.)

The UPDATE message always includes the fixed-size BGP header, and
also includes the other fields, as shown below (note, some of the
shown fields may not be present in every UPDATE message):

+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Withdrawn Routes Length (2 octets) |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Withdrawn Routes (variable) |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Total Path Attribute Length (2 octets) |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Path Attributes (variable) |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Network Layer Reachability Information (variable) |
+-----------------------------------------------------+

Figure 4: UPDATE message format

Withdrawn Routes Length: This 2-octets unsigned integer indicates
the total length of the Withdrawn Routes field in octets. Its
value allows the length of the Network Layer Reachability
Information field to be determined, as specified below.

A value of 0 indicates that no routes are being withdrawn from
service, and that the WITHDRAWN ROUTES field is not present in
this UPDATE message.

Withdrawn Routes: This is a variable-length field that contains a

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 16]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

list of IP address prefixes for the routes that are being
withdrawn from service. Each IP address prefix is encoded as a
2-tuple of the form <length, prefix>, whose fields are described
below:

+---------------------------+
| Length (1 octet) |
+---------------------------+
| Prefix (variable) |
+---------------------------+

Figure 5: IP Address Prefix

The use and the meaning of these fields are as follows:

a) Length: The Length field indicates the length in bits of the IP
address prefix. A length of zero indicates a prefix that matches
all IP addresses (with prefix, itself, of zero octets).

b) Prefix: The Prefix field contains an IP address prefix, followed
by the minimum number of trailing bits needed to make the end of
the field fall on an octet boundary. Note that the value of
trailing bits is irrelevant. Trailing bits MUST be set to zero
on transmission and MUST be disregarded on receipt.

Total Path Attribute Length: This 2-octet unsigned integer indicates
the total length of the Path Attributes field in octets. Its
value allows the length of the Network Layer Reachability field to
be determined as specified below.

A value of 0 indicates that neither the Network Layer Reachability
Information field nor the Path Attribute field is present in this
UPDATE message.

Path Attributes: A variable-length sequence of path attributes is
present in every UPDATE message, except for an UPDATE message that
carries only withdrawn routes. Each path attribute is a triple
<attribute type, attribute length, attribute value> of variable
length.

Attribute Type is a two-octet field that consists of the Attribute
Flags octet, followed by the Attribute Type Code octet.

0 1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Attr. Flags |Attr. Type Code|
+---------------+---------------+

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 17]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

Figure 6: Attribute Type

The high-order bit (bit 0) of the Attribute Flags octet is the
Optional bit. It defines whether the attribute is optional (if
set to 1) or well-known (if set to 0).

The second high-order bit (bit 1) of the Attribute Flags octet is
the Transitive bit. It defines whether an optional attribute is
transitive (if set to 1) or non-transitive (if set to 0).

For well-known attributes, the Transitive bit MUST be set to 1.
(See Section 5 for a discussion of transitive attributes.)

The third high-order bit (bit 2) of the Attribute Flags octet is
the Partial bit. It defines whether the information contained in
the optional transitive attribute is partial (if set to 1) or
complete (if set to 0). For well-known attributes and for
optional non-transitive attributes, the Partial bit MUST be set to
0.

The fourth high-order bit (bit 3) of the Attribute Flags octet is
the Extended Length bit. It defines whether the Attribute Length
is one octet (if set to 0) or two octets (if set to 1).

The lower-order four bits of the Attribute Flags octet are unused.
They MUST be zero when sent and MUST be ignored when received.

The Attribute Type Code octet contains the Attribute Type Code.
Currently defined Attribute Type Codes are discussed in Section 5.

If the Extended Length bit of the Attribute Flags octet is set to
0, the third octet of the Path Attribute contains the length of
the attribute data in octets.

If the Extended Length bit of the Attribute Flags octet is set to
1, the third and fourth octets of the path attribute contain the
length of the attribute data in octets.

The remaining octets of the Path Attribute represent the attribute
value and are interpreted according to the Attribute Flags and the
Attribute Type Code. The supported Attribute Type Codes, and
their attribute values and uses are as follows:

a) ORIGIN (Type Code 1): ORIGIN is a well-known mandatory
attribute that defines the origin of the path information. The
data octet can assume the following values:

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 18]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

+=======+==============================================+
| Value | Meaning |
+=======+==============================================+
| 0 | IGP - Network Layer Reachability Information |
| | is interior to the originating AS |
+-------+----------------------------------------------+
| 1 | EGP - Network Layer Reachability Information |
| | learned via the EGP protocol [RFC904] |
+-------+----------------------------------------------+
| 2 | INCOMPLETE - Network Layer Reachability |
| | Information learned by some other means |
+-------+----------------------------------------------+
| 3-255 | MUST NOT be sent |
+-------+----------------------------------------------+

Table 1: ORIGIN Values

Usage of this attribute is defined in Section 5.1.1.

b) AS_PATH (Type Code 2): AS_PATH is a well-known mandatory
attribute that is composed of a sequence of AS path segments.
Each AS path segment is represented by a triple <path segment
type, path segment length, path segment value>.

The path segment type is a 1-octet length field with the following
values defined:

+=======+==========================================+
| Value | Segment Type |
+=======+==========================================+
| 1 | AS_SET: unordered set of ASes a route in |
| | the UPDATE message has traversed |
+-------+------------------------------------------+
| 2 | AS_SEQUENCE: ordered set of ASes a route |
| | in the UPDATE message has traversed |
+-------+------------------------------------------+

Table 2: AS_PATH Segment Type Values

The path segment length is a 1-octet length field, containing the
number of ASes (not the number of octets) in the path segment
value field.

The path segment value field contains one or more AS numbers, each
encoded as a 2-octet length field.

Usage of this attribute is defined in Section 5.1.2.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 19]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

c) NEXT_HOP (Type Code 3): This is a well-known mandatory attribute
that defines the (unicast) IP address of the router that SHOULD be
used as the next hop to the destinations listed in the Network
Layer Reachability Information field of the UPDATE message.

Usage of this attribute is defined in Section 5.1.3.

d) MULTI_EXIT_DISC (Type Code 4): This is an optional non-transitive
attribute that is a four-octet unsigned integer. The value of
this attribute MAY be used by a BGP speaker's Decision Process to
discriminate among multiple entry points to a neighboring
autonomous system.

Considerations for the deployment of this attribute are given in
[RFC7964].

Usage of this attribute is defined in Section 5.1.4.

e) LOCAL_PREF (Type Code 5): LOCAL_PREF is a well-known attribute
that is a four-octet unsigned integer. A BGP speaker uses it to
inform its other internal peers of the advertising speaker's
degree of preference for an advertised route.

Usage of this attribute is defined in Section 5.1.5.

f) ATOMIC_AGGREGATE (Type Code 6): ATOMIC_AGGREGATE is a well-known
discretionary attribute of length 0.

Usage of this attribute is defined in Section 5.1.6.

g) AGGREGATOR (Type Code 7): AGGREGATOR is an optional transitive
attribute of length 6. The attribute contains the last AS number
that formed the aggregate route (encoded as 2 octets), followed by
the IP address of the BGP speaker that formed the aggregate route
(encoded as 4 octets). This SHOULD be the same address as the one
used for the BGP Identifier of the speaker.

Usage of this attribute is defined in Section 5.1.7.

Network Layer Reachability Information: This variable length field
contains a list of IP address prefixes. The length, in octets, of
the Network Layer Reachability Information is not encoded
explicitly, but can be calculated as:

UPDATE message Length - 23 - Total Path Attributes Length
- Withdrawn Routes Length

Figure 7: NLRI Length Calculation

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 20]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

where UPDATE message Length is the value encoded in the fixed-size
BGP header, Total Path Attribute Length, and Withdrawn Routes
Length are the values encoded in the variable part of the UPDATE
message, and 23 is a combined length of the fixed-size BGP header,
the Total Path Attribute Length field, and the Withdrawn Routes
Length field.

Reachability information is encoded as a list of IP address
prefixes for the routes that are being made available for service.
Each IP address prefix is encoded as described above under
Figure 5.

The minimum length of the UPDATE message is 23 octets -- 19 octets
for the fixed header + 2 octets for the Withdrawn Routes Length + 2
octets for the Total Path Attribute Length (the value of Withdrawn
Routes Length is 0 and the value of Total Path Attribute Length is
0).

An UPDATE message can advertise, at most, one set of path attributes,
but multiple destinations, provided that the destinations share these
attributes. All path attributes contained in a given UPDATE message
apply to all destinations carried in the NLRI field of the UPDATE
message.

An UPDATE message can list multiple routes that are to be withdrawn
from service. Each such route is identified by its destination
(expressed as an IP prefix), which unambiguously identifies the route
in the context of the BGP speaker - BGP speaker connection to which
it has been previously advertised.

An UPDATE message might advertise only routes that are to be
withdrawn from service, in which case the message will not include
path attributes or Network Layer Reachability Information.
Conversely, it may advertise only a feasible route, in which case the
WITHDRAWN ROUTES field need not be present.

An UPDATE message SHOULD NOT include the same address prefix in the
WITHDRAWN ROUTES and Network Layer Reachability Information fields.
However, a BGP speaker MUST be able to process UPDATE messages in
this form. A BGP speaker SHOULD treat an UPDATE message of this form
as though the WITHDRAWN ROUTES do not contain the address prefix.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 21]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

4.4. KEEPALIVE Message Format

BGP does not use any TCP-based, keep-alive mechanism to determine if
peers are reachable. Instead, KEEPALIVE messages are exchanged
between peers often enough not to cause the Hold Timer to expire. A
reasonable maximum time between KEEPALIVE messages would be one third
of the Hold Time interval. KEEPALIVE messages MUST NOT be sent more
frequently than one per second. An implementation MAY adjust the
rate at which it sends KEEPALIVE messages as a function of the Hold
Time interval.

If the negotiated Hold Time interval is zero, then periodic KEEPALIVE
messages MUST NOT be sent.

A KEEPALIVE message consists of only the message header and has a
length of 19 octets.

4.5. NOTIFICATION Message Format

A NOTIFICATION message is sent when an error condition is detected.
The BGP connection is closed immediately after it is sent.

In addition to the fixed-size BGP header, the NOTIFICATION message
contains the following fields:

0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Error code | Error subcode | Data (variable ) |
+---------------+---------------+-------------------------------+

Figure 8: NOTIFICATION Message Format

Error Code: This 1-octet unsigned integer indicates the type of
NOTIFICATION. The following Error Codes are defined by this
document. The authoritative list is maintained by IANA, see
Appendix E:

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 22]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

+============+============================+=============+
| Error Code | Symbolic Name | Reference |
+============+============================+=============+
| 1 | Message Header Error | Section 6.1 |
+------------+----------------------------+-------------+
| 2 | OPEN Message Error | Section 6.2 |
+------------+----------------------------+-------------+
| 3 | UPDATE Message Error | Section 6.3 |
+------------+----------------------------+-------------+
| 4 | Hold Timer Expired | Section 6.5 |
+------------+----------------------------+-------------+
| 5 | Finite State Machine Error | Section 6.7 |
+------------+----------------------------+-------------+
| 6 | Cease | Section 6.8 |
+------------+----------------------------+-------------+

Table 3: NOTIFICATION Error Codes

Error subcode: This 1-octet unsigned integer provides more specific
information about the nature of the reported error. Each Error
Code may have one or more Error Subcodes associated with it. If
no appropriate Error Subcode is defined, then a zero (Unspecific)
value is used for the Error Subcode field. The following subcodes
are defined by this document. The authoritative list is
maintained by IANA, see Appendix E:

Message Header Error subcodes:

+=======+=============================+
| Value | Name |
+=======+=============================+
| 0 | Unspecific |
+-------+-----------------------------+
| 1 | Connection Not Synchronized |
+-------+-----------------------------+
| 2 | Bad Message Length |
+-------+-----------------------------+
| 3 | Bad Message Type |
+-------+-----------------------------+

Table 4: Message Header Error subcodes

OPEN Message Error subcodes:

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 23]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

+=======+================================+
| Value | Name |
+=======+================================+
| 0 | Unspecific |
+-------+--------------------------------+
| 1 | Unsupported Version Number |
+-------+--------------------------------+
| 2 | Bad Peer AS |
+-------+--------------------------------+
| 3 | Bad BGP Identifier |
+-------+--------------------------------+
| 4 | Unsupported Optional Parameter |
+-------+--------------------------------+
| 5 | [Deprecated - see Appendix A] |
+-------+--------------------------------+
| 6 | Unacceptable Hold Time |
+-------+--------------------------------+

Table 5: OPEN Message Error subcodes

UPDATE Message Error subcodes:

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 24]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

+=======+===================================+
| Value | Name |
+=======+===================================+
| 0 | Unspecific |
+-------+-----------------------------------+
| 1 | Malformed Attribute List |
+-------+-----------------------------------+
| 2 | Unrecognized Well-known Attribute |
+-------+-----------------------------------+
| 3 | Missing Well-known Attribute |
+-------+-----------------------------------+
| 4 | Attribute Flags Error |
+-------+-----------------------------------+
| 5 | Attribute Length Error |
+-------+-----------------------------------+
| 6 | Invalid ORIGIN Attribute |
+-------+-----------------------------------+
| 7 | [Deprecated - see Appendix A] |
+-------+-----------------------------------+
| 8 | Invalid NEXT_HOP Attribute |
+-------+-----------------------------------+
| 9 | Optional Attribute Error |
+-------+-----------------------------------+
| 10 | Invalid Network Field |
+-------+-----------------------------------+
| 11 | Malformed AS_PATH |
+-------+-----------------------------------+

Table 6: UPDATE Message Error subcodes

Finite State Machine Error Subcodes:

+=======+=================================================+
| Value | Name |
+=======+=================================================+
| 0 | Unspecified Error |
+-------+-------------------------------------------------+
| 1 | Receive Unexpected Message in OpenSent State |
+-------+-------------------------------------------------+
| 2 | Receive Unexpected Message in OpenConfirm State |
+-------+-------------------------------------------------+
| 3 | Receive Unexpected Message in Established State |
+-------+-------------------------------------------------+

Table 7: Finite State Machine Error Subcodes

Data: This variable-length field is used to diagnose the reason for

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 25]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

the NOTIFICATION. The contents of the Data field depend upon the
Error Code and Error Subcode. See Section 6 for more details.

Note that the length of the Data field can be determined from the
message Length field by the formula:

Message Length = 21 + Data Length

The minimum length of the NOTIFICATION message is 21 octets
(including message header).

5. Path Attributes

This section discusses the path attributes of the UPDATE message.

Path attributes fall into four separate categories:

1. Well-known mandatory.

2. Well-known discretionary.

3. Optional transitive.

4. Optional non-transitive.

BGP implementations MUST recognize all well-known attributes. Some
of these attributes are mandatory and MUST be included in every
UPDATE message that contains NLRI. Others are discretionary and may
or may not be sent in a particular UPDATE message.

Once a BGP peer has updated any well-known attributes, it MUST pass
these attributes to its peers in any updates it transmits.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 26]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

In addition to well-known attributes, each path MAY contain one or
more optional attributes. It is not required or expected that all
BGP implementations support all optional attributes. The handling of
an unrecognized optional attribute is determined by the setting of
the Transitive bit in the attribute flags octet. Paths with
unrecognized optional transitive attributes SHOULD be accepted. If a
path with an unrecognized optional transitive attribute is accepted
and passed to other BGP peers, then the unrecognized optional
transitive attribute of that path MUST be passed, along with the
path, to other BGP peers with the Partial bit in the Attribute Flags
octet set to 1. If a path with a recognized, optional transitive
attribute is accepted and passed along to other BGP peers and the
Partial bit in the Attribute Flags octet is set to 1 by some previous
AS, it MUST NOT be set back to 0 by the current AS. Unrecognized
optional non-transitive attributes MUST be quietly ignored and not
passed along to other BGP peers.

New, optional transitive attributes MAY be attached to the path by
the originator or by any other BGP speaker in the path. The rules
for attaching new optional non-transitive attributes will depend on
the nature of the specific attribute. The documentation of each new
optional non-transitive attribute will be expected to include such
rules (the description of the MULTI_EXIT_DISC attribute gives an
example). All optional attributes (both transitive and non-
transitive), MAY be updated (if appropriate) by BGP speakers in the
path.

The sender of an UPDATE message SHOULD order path attributes within
the UPDATE message in ascending order of attribute type. The
receiver of an UPDATE message MUST be prepared to handle path
attributes within UPDATE messages that are out of order.

The same attribute (attribute with the same type) cannot appear more
than once within the Path Attributes field of a particular UPDATE
message.

The mandatory category refers to an attribute that MUST be present in
both IBGP and EBGP exchanges if NLRI are contained in the UPDATE
message. Attributes classified as optional for the purpose of the
protocol extension mechanism may be purely discretionary,
discretionary, required, or disallowed in certain contexts.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 27]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

Table 8: Path Attribute Classification

5.1. Path Attribute Usage

The usage of each BGP path attribute is described in the following
clauses.

5.1.1. ORIGIN

ORIGIN is a well-known mandatory attribute. The ORIGIN attribute is
generated by the speaker that originates the associated routing
information. Its value SHOULD NOT be changed by any other speaker.

An ORIGIN value not equal to one of the defined values of (0, 1, or
2) (listed in Table 1) MUST NOT be sent.

5.1.2. AS_PATH

AS_PATH is a well-known mandatory attribute. This attribute
identifies the autonomous systems through which routing information
carried in this UPDATE message has passed. The components of this
list can be AS_SETs or AS_SEQUENCEs. (Other segments and behaviors
are added by [RFC5065], if used.)

When a BGP speaker propagates a route it learned from another BGP
speaker's UPDATE message, it modifies the route's AS_PATH attribute
based on the location of the BGP speaker to which the route will be
sent:

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 28]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

a) When a given BGP speaker advertises the route to an internal
peer, the advertising speaker SHALL NOT modify the AS_PATH
attribute associated with the route.

b) When a given BGP speaker advertises the route to an external
peer, the advertising speaker updates the AS_PATH attribute as
follows:

1. if the first path segment of the AS_PATH is of type
AS_SEQUENCE, the local system prepends its own AS number as
the last element of the sequence (put it in the leftmost
position with respect to the position of octets in the
protocol message). If the act of prepending will cause an
overflow in the AS_PATH segment (i.e., more than 255 ASes),
it MUST prepend a new segment of type AS_SEQUENCE and prepend
its own AS number to this new segment.

2. if the first path segment of the AS_PATH is of type AS_SET,
the local system prepends a new path segment of type
AS_SEQUENCE to the AS_PATH, including its own AS number in
that segment.

3. if the AS_PATH is empty, the local system creates a path
segment of type AS_SEQUENCE, places its own AS into that
segment, and places that segment into the AS_PATH.

When a BGP speaker originates a route then:

a) the originating speaker includes its own AS number in a path
segment, of type AS_SEQUENCE, in the AS_PATH attribute of any
UPDATE message sent to an external peer. In this case, the AS
number of the originating speaker's autonomous system will be the
only entry in the path segment, and this path segment will be the
only segment in the AS_PATH attribute.

b) the originating speaker includes an empty AS_PATH attribute in
any UPDATE message sent to an internal peer. (An empty AS_PATH
attribute is one whose length field contains the value zero).

Whenever the modification of the AS_PATH attribute calls for
including or prepending the AS number of the local system, the local
system MAY include/prepend more than one instance of its own AS
number in the AS_PATH attribute. This is controlled via local
configuration.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 29]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

5.1.3. NEXT_HOP

The NEXT_HOP is a well-known mandatory attribute that defines the IP
address of the router that SHOULD be used as the next hop to the
destinations listed in the UPDATE message. The NEXT_HOP attribute is
calculated as follows:

1. When sending a message to an internal peer, if the route is not
locally originated, the BGP speaker SHOULD NOT modify the
NEXT_HOP attribute unless it has been explicitly configured to
announce its own IP address as the NEXT_HOP. When announcing a
locally-originated route to an internal peer, the BGP speaker
SHOULD use the interface address of the router through which the
announced network is reachable for the speaker as the NEXT_HOP.
If the route is directly connected to the speaker, or if the
interface address of the router through which the announced
network is reachable for the speaker is the internal peer's
address, then the BGP speaker SHOULD use its own IP address for
the NEXT_HOP attribute (the address of the interface that is used
to reach the peer).

2. When sending a message to an external peer, X, and the peer is
one IP hop away from the speaker:

* If the route being announced was learned from an internal peer
or is locally originated, the BGP speaker can use an interface
address of the internal peer router (or the internal router)
through which the announced network is reachable for the
speaker for the NEXT_HOP attribute, provided that peer X
shares a common subnet with this address. This is a form of
"third party" NEXT_HOP attribute.

* Otherwise, if the route being announced was learned from an
external peer, the speaker can use an IP address of any
adjacent router (known from the received NEXT_HOP attribute)
that the speaker itself uses for local route calculation in
the NEXT_HOP attribute, provided that peer X shares a common
subnet with this address. This is a second form of "third
party" NEXT_HOP attribute.

* Otherwise, if the external peer to which the route is being
advertised shares a common subnet with one of the interfaces
of the announcing BGP speaker, the speaker MAY use the IP
address associated with such an interface in the NEXT_HOP
attribute. This is known as a "first party" NEXT_HOP
attribute.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 30]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* By default (if none of the above conditions apply), the BGP
speaker SHOULD use the IP address of the interface that the
speaker uses to establish the BGP connection to peer X in the
NEXT_HOP attribute.

3. When sending a message to an external peer X, and the peer is
multiple IP hops away from the speaker (aka "multihop EBGP"):

* The speaker MAY be configured to propagate the NEXT_HOP
attribute. In this case, when advertising a route that the
speaker learned from one of its peers, the NEXT_HOP attribute
of the advertised route is exactly the same as the NEXT_HOP
attribute of the learned route (the speaker does not modify
the NEXT_HOP attribute).

* By default, the BGP speaker SHOULD use the IP address of the
interface that the speaker uses to establish the BGP
connection to peer X in the NEXT_HOP attribute.

Normally, the NEXT_HOP attribute is chosen such that the shortest
available path will be taken. A BGP speaker MUST be able to support
disabling the advertisement of third party NEXT_HOP attributes in
order to handle imperfectly bridged media.

A route originated by a BGP speaker SHALL NOT be advertised to a peer
using an address of that peer as NEXT_HOP. A BGP speaker SHALL NOT
install a route with itself as the next hop.

The NEXT_HOP attribute is used by the BGP speaker to determine the
actual outbound interface and immediate next-hop address used to
forward transit packets to the associated destinations.

The immediate next-hop address is determined by performing a
recursive route lookup operation for the IP address in the NEXT_HOP
attribute, using the contents of the Routing Table, selecting one
entry if multiple entries of equal cost exist. The Routing
Table entry that resolves the IP address in the NEXT_HOP attribute
will always specify the outbound interface. If the entry specifies
an attached subnet, but does not specify a next-hop address, then the
address in the NEXT_HOP attribute SHOULD be used as the immediate
next-hop address. If the entry also specifies the next-hop address,
this address SHOULD be used as the immediate next-hop address for
packet forwarding.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 31]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

5.1.4. MULTI_EXIT_DISC

The MULTI_EXIT_DISC is an optional non-transitive attribute that is
intended to be used on external (inter-AS) links to discriminate
among multiple exit points to reach the same neighboring AS. The
value of the MULTI_EXIT_DISC attribute is a four-octet unsigned
number, called a metric. All other factors being equal, the exit
point with the lower metric is preferred. If received over EBGP, the
MULTI_EXIT_DISC attribute MAY be propagated over IBGP to other BGP
speakers within the same AS (see also Section 9.1.2.2). The
MULTI_EXIT_DISC attribute received from a neighboring AS MUST NOT be
propagated to other neighboring ASes.

A BGP speaker MUST implement a mechanism (based on local
configuration) that allows the MULTI_EXIT_DISC attribute to be
removed from a route. If a BGP speaker is configured to remove the
MULTI_EXIT_DISC attribute from a route, then this removal MUST be
done prior to determining the degree of preference of the route and
prior to performing route selection (Decision Process phases 1 and
2).

An implementation MAY also (based on local configuration) alter the
value of the MULTI_EXIT_DISC attribute received over EBGP. If a BGP
speaker is configured to alter the value of the MULTI_EXIT_DISC
attribute received over EBGP, then altering the value MUST be done
prior to determining the degree of preference of the route and prior
to performing route selection (Decision Process phases 1 and 2). See
Section 9.1.2.2 for necessary restrictions on this.

5.1.5. LOCAL_PREF

LOCAL_PREF is a well-known discretionary attribute that SHALL be
included in all UPDATE messages that a given BGP speaker sends to
other internal peers. A BGP speaker SHALL calculate the degree of
preference for each external route based on the locally-configured
policy, and include the degree of preference when advertising a route
to its internal peers. The higher degree of preference MUST be
preferred. A BGP speaker uses the degree of preference learned via
LOCAL_PREF in its Decision Process (see Section 9.1.1).

A BGP speaker MUST NOT include this attribute in UPDATE messages it
sends to external peers, except in the case of BGP Confederations
[RFC5065]. If it is contained in an UPDATE message that is received
from an external peer, then this attribute MUST be ignored by the
receiving speaker, except in the case of BGP Confederations
[RFC5065].

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 32]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

5.1.6. ATOMIC_AGGREGATE

ATOMIC_AGGREGATE is a well-known discretionary attribute.

When a BGP speaker aggregates several routes for the purpose of
advertisement to a particular peer, the AS_PATH of the aggregated
route could include an AS_SET formed from the set of ASes from which
the aggregate was formed. In many cases, the network administrator
can determine if the aggregate can safely be advertised without the
AS_SET, and without forming route loops.

If an aggregate excludes at least some of the AS numbers present in
the AS_PATH of the routes that are aggregated as a result of dropping
the AS_SET, the aggregated route, when advertised to the peer, SHOULD
include the ATOMIC_AGGREGATE attribute.

A BGP speaker that receives a route with the ATOMIC_AGGREGATE
attribute SHOULD NOT remove the attribute when propagating the route
to other speakers.

A BGP speaker that receives a route with the ATOMIC_AGGREGATE
attribute MUST NOT make any NLRI of that route more specific (as
defined in Section 9.1.4) when advertising this route to other BGP
speakers.

A BGP speaker that receives a route with the ATOMIC_AGGREGATE
attribute needs to be aware of the fact that the actual path to
destinations, as specified in the NLRI of the route, while having the
loop-free property, may not be the path specified in the AS_PATH
attribute of the route.

5.1.7. AGGREGATOR

AGGREGATOR is an optional transitive attribute, which MAY be included
in updates that are formed by aggregation (see Section 9.2.2.2). A
BGP speaker that performs route aggregation MAY add the AGGREGATOR
attribute, which SHALL contain its own AS number and IP address. The
IP address SHOULD be the same as the BGP Identifier of the speaker.

6. BGP Error Handling

This section describes actions to be taken when errors are detected
while processing BGP messages.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 33]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

When any of the conditions described here are detected, a
NOTIFICATION message, with the indicated Error Code, Error Subcode,
and Data fields, is sent, and the BGP connection is closed (unless it
is explicitly stated that no NOTIFICATION message is to be sent and
the BGP connection is not to be closed). If no Error Subcode is
specified, then a zero MUST be used.

The phrase "the BGP connection is closed" means the TCP connection
has been closed, the associated Adj-RIB-In has been cleared, and all
resources for that BGP connection have been deallocated. Entries in
the Loc-RIB associated with the remote peer are marked as invalid.
The local system recalculates its best routes for the destinations of
the routes marked as invalid. Before the invalid routes are deleted
from the system, it advertises, to its peers, either withdraws for
the routes marked as invalid, or the new best routes.

Unless specified explicitly, the Data field of the NOTIFICATION
message that is sent to indicate an error is empty.

6.1. Message Header Error Handling

All errors detected while processing the Message Header MUST be
indicated by sending the NOTIFICATION message with the Error Code
Message Header Error. The Error Subcode elaborates on the specific
nature of the error.

The expected value of the Marker field of the message header is all
ones. If the Marker field of the message header is not as expected,
then a synchronization error has occurred and the Error Subcode MUST
be set to Connection Not Synchronized.

If at least one of the following is true:

* if the Length field of the message header is less than 19 or
greater than 4096, or

* if the Length field of an OPEN message is less than the minimum
length of the OPEN message, or

* if the Length field of an UPDATE message is less than the minimum
length of the UPDATE message, or

* if the Length field of a KEEPALIVE message is not equal to 19, or

* if the Length field of a NOTIFICATION message is less than the
minimum length of the NOTIFICATION message,

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 34]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

then the Error Subcode MUST be set to Bad Message Length. The Data
field MUST contain the erroneous Length field.

If the Type field of the message header is not recognized, then the
Error Subcode MUST be set to Bad Message Type. The Data field MUST
contain the erroneous Type field.

6.2. OPEN Message Error Handling

All errors detected while processing the OPEN message MUST be
indicated by sending the NOTIFICATION message with the Error Code
OPEN Message Error. The Error Subcode elaborates on the specific
nature of the error.

If the version number in the Version field of the received OPEN
message is not supported, then the Error Subcode MUST be set to
Unsupported Version Number. The Data field is a 2-octet unsigned
integer, which indicates the largest, locally-supported version
number less than the version the remote BGP peer bid (as indicated in
the received OPEN message), or if the smallest, locally-supported
version number is greater than the version the remote BGP peer bid,
then the smallest, locally-supported version number.

If the Autonomous System field of the OPEN message is unacceptable,
then the Error Subcode MUST be set to Bad Peer AS. The determination
of acceptable Autonomous System numbers is outside the scope of this
protocol.

If the Hold Time field of the OPEN message is unacceptable, then the
Error Subcode MUST be set to Unacceptable Hold Time. An
implementation MUST reject Hold Time values of one or two seconds.
An implementation MAY reject any proposed Hold Time. An
implementation that accepts a Hold Time MUST use the negotiated value
for the Hold Time.

If the BGP Identifier field of the OPEN message is zero, or if it is
the same as the BGP Identifier of the local BGP speaker and the
message is from an internal peer, then the Error Subcode is set to
"Bad BGP Identifier".

If one of the Optional Parameters in the OPEN message is not
recognized, then the Error Subcode MUST be set to Unsupported
Optional Parameters.

If one of the Optional Parameters in the OPEN message is recognized,
but is malformed, then the Error Subcode MUST be set to 0
(Unspecific).

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 35]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

6.3. UPDATE Message Error Handling

All errors detected while processing the UPDATE message MUST be
indicated by sending the NOTIFICATION message with the Error Code
UPDATE Message Error. The error subcode elaborates on the specific
nature of the error.

Error checking of an UPDATE message begins by examining the path
attributes. If the Withdrawn Routes Length or Total Attribute Length
is too large (i.e., if Withdrawn Routes Length + Total Attribute
Length + 23 exceeds the message Length), then the Error Subcode MUST
be set to Malformed Attribute List.

If any recognized attribute has Attribute Flags that conflict with
the Attribute Type Code, then the Error Subcode MUST be set to
Attribute Flags Error. The Data field MUST contain the erroneous
attribute (type, length, and value).

If any recognized attribute has an Attribute Length that conflicts
with the expected length (based on the attribute type code), then the
Error Subcode MUST be set to Attribute Length Error. The Data field
MUST contain the erroneous attribute (type, length, and value).

If any of the well-known mandatory attributes are not present, then
the Error Subcode MUST be set to Missing Well-known Attribute. The
Data field MUST contain the Attribute Type Code of the missing, well-
known attribute.

If any of the well-known mandatory attributes are not recognized,
then the Error Subcode MUST be set to Unrecognized Well-known
Attribute. The Data field MUST contain the unrecognized attribute
(type, length, and value).

If the ORIGIN attribute has an undefined value, then the Error Sub-
code MUST be set to Invalid Origin Attribute. The Data field MUST
contain the unrecognized attribute (type, length, and value).

If the NEXT_HOP attribute field is syntactically incorrect, then the
Error Subcode MUST be set to Invalid NEXT_HOP Attribute. The Data
field MUST contain the incorrect attribute (type, length, and value).
Syntactic correctness means that the NEXT_HOP attribute represents a
valid IP host address.

The IP address in the NEXT_HOP MUST meet the following criteria to be
considered semantically correct:

a) It MUST NOT be the IP address of the receiving speaker.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 36]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

b) In the case of an EBGP, where the sender and receiver are one IP
hop away from each other, either the IP address in the NEXT_HOP
MUST be the sender's IP address that is used to establish the BGP
connection, or the interface associated with the NEXT_HOP IP
address MUST share a common subnet with the receiving BGP
speaker.

If the NEXT_HOP attribute is semantically incorrect, the error SHOULD
be logged, and the route SHOULD be ignored. In this case, a
NOTIFICATION message SHOULD NOT be sent, and the connection SHOULD
NOT be closed.

The AS_PATH attribute is checked for syntactic correctness. If the
path is syntactically incorrect, then the Error Subcode MUST be set
to Malformed AS_PATH.

If the UPDATE message is received from an external peer, the local
system MAY check whether the leftmost (with respect to the position
of octets in the protocol message) AS in the AS_PATH attribute is
equal to the autonomous system number of the peer that sent the
message. If the check determines this is not the case, the Error
Subcode MUST be set to Malformed AS_PATH. We note that despite the
use of a Subcode that includes the word "malformed", this is a case
of semantic, not syntactic, invalidity.

If an optional attribute is recognized, then the value of this
attribute MUST be checked. If an error is detected, the Error
Subcode MUST be set to Optional Attribute Error. The Data field MUST
contain the attribute (type, length, and value).

If any attribute appears more than once in the UPDATE message, then
the Error Subcode MUST be set to Malformed Attribute List.

The NLRI field in the UPDATE message is checked for syntactic
validity. If the field is syntactically incorrect, then the Error
Subcode MUST be set to Invalid Network Field.

If a prefix in the NLRI field is semantically incorrect (e.g., an
unexpected multicast IP address), an error SHOULD be logged locally,
and the prefix SHOULD be ignored.

An UPDATE message that contains correct path attributes, but no NLRI,
SHALL be treated as a valid UPDATE message.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 37]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

6.4. NOTIFICATION Message Error Handling

If a peer sends a NOTIFICATION message, and the receiver of the
message detects an error in that message, the receiver cannot use a
NOTIFICATION message to report this error back to the peer. Any such
error (e.g., an unrecognized Error Code or Error Subcode) SHOULD be
noticed, logged locally, and brought to the attention of the
administration of the peer. The means to do this, however, lies
outside the scope of this document.

6.5. Hold Timer Expired Error Handling

If a system does not receive successive KEEPALIVE, UPDATE, and/or
NOTIFICATION messages within the period specified in the Hold Time
field of the OPEN message, then the NOTIFICATION message with the
Hold Timer Expired Error Code is sent and the BGP connection is
closed.

6.6. Send Hold Timer Expired Error Handling

If the SendHoldTimer expires, then a NOTIFICATION message with the
"Send Hold Timer Expired" Error Code MAY be sent and the BGP
connection MUST be closed. Additionally, an error MUST be logged in
the local system, indicating the "Send Hold Timer Expired" Error
Code.

The subcode for NOTIFICATION message "Send Hold Timer Expired" is set
to 0 and is not used; no additional data is to be appended to the end
of a "Send Hold Timer Expired" NOTIFICATION message.

6.7. Finite State Machine Error Handling

If a BGP speaker receives an unexpected message (e.g.,
KEEPALIVE/UPDATE/ROUTE-REFRESH message) on a session in OpenSent
state, it MUST send to the neighbor a NOTIFICATION message with the
Error Code Finite State Machine Error and the Error Subcode "Receive
Unexpected Message in OpenSent State". The Data field is a 1-octet,
unsigned integer that indicates the type of the unexpected message.

If a BGP speaker receives an unexpected message (e.g., OPEN/UPDATE/
ROUTE-REFRESH message) on a session in OpenConfirm state, it MUST
send a NOTIFICATION message with the Error Code Finite State Machine
Error and the Error Subcode "Receive Unexpected Message in
OpenConfirm State" to the neighbor. The Data field is a 1-octet,
unsigned integer that indicates the type of the unexpected message.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 38]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

If a BGP speaker receives an unexpected message (e.g., OPEN message)
on a session in Established State, it MUST send to the neighbor a
NOTIFICATION message with the Error Code Finite State Machine Error
and the Error Subcode "Receive Unexpected Message in Established
State". The Data field is a 1-octet, unsigned integer that indicates
the type of the unexpected message.

Any other error detected by the BGP Finite State Machine (e.g.,
receipt of an unexpected event) is indicated by sending the
NOTIFICATION message with the Error Code Finite State Machine Error
and the Error Subcode "Unspecified Error".

6.8. Cease

In the absence of any fatal errors (that are indicated in this
section), a BGP peer MAY choose, at any given time, to close its BGP
connection by sending the NOTIFICATION message with the Error Code
Cease. However, the Cease NOTIFICATION message MUST NOT be used when
a fatal error indicated by this section does exist.

A BGP speaker MAY support the ability to impose a locally-configured,
upper bound on the number of address prefixes the speaker is willing
to accept from a neighbor. When the upper bound is reached, the
speaker, under control of local configuration, either (a) discards
new address prefixes from the neighbor (while maintaining the BGP
connection with the neighbor), or (b) terminates the BGP connection
with the neighbor. If the BGP speaker decides to terminate its BGP
connection with a neighbor because the number of address prefixes
received from the neighbor exceeds the locally-configured, upper
bound, then the speaker MUST send the neighbor a NOTIFICATION message
with the Error Code Cease. The speaker MAY also log this locally.

6.9. BGP Connection Collision Detection

If a pair of BGP speakers try to establish a BGP connection with each
other simultaneously, then two parallel connections will be formed.
If the source IP address used by one of these connections is the same
as the destination IP address used by the other, and the destination
IP address used by the first connection is the same as the source IP
address used by the other, connection collision has occurred. In the
event of connection collision, one of the connections MUST be closed.

Based on the value of the BGP Identifier, a convention is established
for detecting which BGP connection is to be preserved when a
collision occurs. The convention is to compare the BGP Identifiers
of the peers involved in the collision and to retain only the
connection initiated by the BGP speaker with the higher-valued BGP
Identifier.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 39]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

Upon receipt of an OPEN message, the local system MUST examine all of
its connections that are in the OpenConfirm state. A BGP speaker MAY
also examine connections in an OpenSent state if it knows the BGP
Identifier of the peer by means outside of the protocol. If, among
these connections, there is a connection to a remote BGP speaker
whose BGP Identifier equals the one in the OPEN message, and this
connection collides with the connection over which the OPEN message
is received, then the local system performs the following collision
resolution procedure:

1. The BGP Identifier of the local system is compared to the BGP
Identifier of the remote system (as specified in the OPEN
message). Comparing BGP Identifiers is done by converting them
to host byte order and treating them as 4-octet unsigned
integers.

2. If the value of the local BGP Identifier is less than the remote
one, the local system closes the BGP connection that already
exists (the one that is already in the OpenConfirm state), and
accepts the BGP connection initiated by the remote system.

3. In the case of an external BGP connection, if the BGP Identifiers
of the peers involved in the connection collision are identical,
then the connection initiated by the BGP speaker with the larger
AS number is preserved. (If [RFC5065] is in use, a session
between one member autonomous system and another member
autonomous system is not considered "external" for this purpose.)

4. Otherwise, the local system closes the newly created BGP
connection (the one associated with the newly received OPEN
message), and continues to use the existing one (the one that is
already in the OpenConfirm state).

Unless allowed via configuration, a connection collision with an
existing BGP connection that is in the Established state causes
closing of the newly created connection.

Note that a connection collision cannot be detected with connections
that are in Idle, Connect, or Active states.

Closing the BGP connection (that results from the collision
resolution procedure) is accomplished by sending the NOTIFICATION
message with the Error Code Cease.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 40]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

7. BGP Version Negotiation

BGP speakers MAY negotiate the version of the protocol by making
multiple attempts at opening a BGP connection, starting with the
highest version number each BGP speaker supports. If an open attempt
fails with an Error Code, OPEN Message Error, and an Error Subcode,
Unsupported Version Number, then the BGP speaker has available the
version number it tried, the version number its peer tried, the
version number passed by its peer in the NOTIFICATION message, and
the version numbers it supports. If the two peers do support one or
more common versions, then this will allow them to rapidly determine
the highest common version. In order to support BGP version
negotiation, future versions of BGP MUST retain the format of the
OPEN and NOTIFICATION messages.

8. BGP Finite State Machine (FSM)

The data structures and FSM described in this document are conceptual
and do not have to be implemented precisely as described here, as
long as the implementations support the described functionality and
they exhibit the same externally visible behavior.

This section specifies the BGP operation in terms of a Finite State
Machine (FSM). The section falls into two parts:

1. Description of Events for the State machine (Section 8.1)

2. Description of the FSM (Section 8.2)

Session attributes required (mandatory) for each connection are:

1. State

2. ConnectRetryCounter

3. ConnectRetryTimer

4. ConnectRetryTime

5. HoldTimer

6. HoldTime

7. KeepaliveTimer

8. KeepaliveTime

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 41]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

The state session attribute indicates the current state of the BGP
FSM. The ConnectRetryCounter indicates the number of times a BGP
peer has tried to establish a peer session.

The mandatory session attributes related to timers are described in
Section 10 Each timer has a "timer" and a "time" (the initial value).

The optional Session attributes are listed below. These optional
session attributes may be supported, either per connection or per
local system:

1. AcceptConnectionsUnconfiguredPeers

2. AllowAutomaticStart

3. AllowAutomaticStop

4. CollisionDetectEstablishedState

5. DampPeerOscillations

6. DelayOpen

7. DelayOpenTime

8. DelayOpenTimer

9. IdleHoldTime

10. IdleHoldTimer

11. PassiveTcpEstablishment

12. SendNOTIFICATIONwithoutOPEN

13. TrackTcpState

14. SendHoldTimer

15. SendHoldTime

The optional session attributes support different features of the BGP
functionality that have implications for the BGP FSM state
transitions. Two groups of the session attributes which relate to
timers are:

group 1: DelayOpen, DelayOpenTime, DelayOpenTimer

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 42]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

group 2: DampPeerOscillations, IdleHoldTime, IdleHoldTimer

The first parameter (DelayOpen, DampPeerOscillations) is an optional
session attribute that indicates that the Timer function is active.
The "Time" value specifies the initial value for the "Timer"
(DelayOpenTime, IdleHoldTime). The "Timer" specifies the actual
timer.

Please refer to Section 8.1.1 for an explanation of the interaction
between these optional session attributes and the events signaled to
the state machine. Section 8.2.1.3 also provides a short overview of
the different types of optional session attributes (flags or timers).

8.1. Events for the BGP FSM

8.1.1. Optional Events Linked to Optional Session Attributes

The Inputs to the BGP FSM are events. Events can either be mandatory
or optional. Some optional events are linked to optional session
attributes. Optional session attributes enable several groups of FSM
functionality.

The linkage between FSM functionality, events, and the optional
session attributes are described below.

8.1.1.1. Group 1: Automatic Administrative Events (Start/Stop)

Optional Session Attributes: AllowAutomaticStart,
AllowAutomaticStop, DampPeerOscillations, IdleHoldTime,
IdleHoldTimer

Option 1: AllowAutomaticStart

Description: A BGP peer connection can be started and stopped by
administrative control. This administrative control can either be
manual, based on operator intervention, or under the control of
logic that is specific to a BGP implementation. The term
"automatic" refers to a start being issued to the BGP peer
connection FSM when such logic determines that the BGP peer
connection should be restarted. The AllowAutomaticStart session
attribute specifies that this BGP connection supports automatic
starting of the BGP connection.

If the BGP implementation supports AllowAutomaticStart, the peer
may be repeatedly restarted. Three other options control the rate
at which the automatic restart occurs: DampPeerOscillations,
IdleHoldTime, and the IdleHoldTimer.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 43]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

The DampPeerOscillations option specifies that the implementation
engages additional logic to damp the oscillations of BGP peers in
the face of sequences of automatic start and automatic stop.
IdleHoldTime specifies the length of time the BGP peer is held in
the Idle state prior to allowing the next automatic restart. The
IdleHoldTimer is the timer that holds the peer in Idle state.

An example of DampPeerOscillations logic is an increase of the
IdleHoldTime value if a BGP peer oscillates connectivity
(connected/disconnected) repeatedly within a time period. To
engage this logic, a peer could connect and disconnect 10 times
within 5 minutes. The IdleHoldTime value would be reset from 0 to
120 seconds.

Values: TRUE or FALSE

Option 2: AllowAutomaticStop

Description: This BGP peer session optional session attribute
indicates that the BGP connection allows "automatic" stopping of
the BGP connection. An "automatic" stop is defined as a stop
under the control of implementation-specific logic. The
implementation-specific logic is outside the scope of this
specification.

Values: TRUE or FALSE

Option 3: DampPeerOscillations

Description: The DampPeerOscillations optional session attribute
indicates that the BGP connection is using logic that damps BGP
peer oscillations in the Idle State.

Value: TRUE or FALSE

Option 4: IdleHoldTime

Description: The IdleHoldTime is the value that is set in the
IdleHoldTimer.

Values: Time in seconds

Option 5: IdleHoldTimer

Description: The IdleHoldTimer aids in controlling BGP peer
oscillation. The IdleHoldTimer is used to keep the BGP peer in
Idle for a particular duration. The IdleHoldTimer_Expires event
is described in Section 8.1.3.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 44]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

Values: Time in seconds

8.1.1.2. Group 2: Unconfigured Peers

Optional Session Attributes: AcceptConnectionsUnconfiguredPeers

Option 1: AcceptConnectionsUnconfiguredPeers

Description: The BGP FSM optionally allows the acceptance of BGP
peer connections from neighbors that are not pre-configured. The
"AcceptConnectionsUnconfiguredPeers" optional session attribute
allows the FSM to support the state transitions that allow the
implementation to accept or reject these unconfigured peers.

The AcceptConnectionsUnconfiguredPeers has security implications.
Please refer to the BGP Vulnerabilities document [RFC4272] for
details.

Value: True or False

8.1.1.3. Group 3: TCP processing

Optional Session Attributes: PassiveTcpEstablishment, TrackTcpState

Option 1: PassiveTcpEstablishment

Description: This option indicates that the BGP FSM will passively
wait for the remote BGP peer to establish the BGP TCP connection.

value: TRUE or FALSE

Option 2: TrackTcpState

Description: The BGP FSM normally tracks the end result of a TCP
connection attempt rather than individual TCP messages.
Optionally, the BGP FSM can support additional interaction with
the TCP connection negotiation. The interaction with the TCP
events may increase the amount of logging the BGP peer connection
requires and the number of BGP FSM changes.

Value: TRUE or FALSE

8.1.1.4. Group 4: BGP Message Processing

Optional Session Attributes: DelayOpen, DelayOpenTime,
DelayOpenTimer, SendNOTIFICATIONwithoutOPEN,
CollisionDetectEstablishedState

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 45]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

Option 1: DelayOpen

Description: The DelayOpen optional session attribute allows
implementations to be configured to delay sending an OPEN message
for a specific time period (DelayOpenTime). The delay allows the
remote BGP Peer time to send the first OPEN message.

Value: TRUE or FALSE

Option 2: DelayOpenTime

Description: The DelayOpenTime is the initial value set in the
DelayOpenTimer.

Value: Time in seconds

Option 3: DelayOpenTimer

Description: The DelayOpenTimer optional session attribute is used
to delay the sending of an OPEN message on a connection. The
DelayOpenTimer_Expires event (Event 12) is described in
Section 8.1.3.

Value: Time in seconds

Option 4: SendNOTIFICATIONwithoutOPEN

Description: The SendNOTIFICATIONwithoutOPEN allows a peer to send a
NOTIFICATION without first sending an OPEN message. Without this
optional session attribute, the BGP connection assumes that an
OPEN message must be sent by a peer prior to the peer sending a
NOTIFICATION message.

Value: True or False

Option 5: CollisionDetectEstablishedState

Description: Normally, a Detect Collision (see Section 6.9) will be
ignored in the Established state. This optional session attribute
indicates that this BGP connection processes collisions in the
Established state.

Value: True or False

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 46]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

Note: The optional session attributes clarify the BGP FSM description
for existing features of BGP implementations. The optional session
attributes may be pre-defined for an implementation and not readable
via management interfaces for existing correct implementations. As
newer BGP MIBs (version 2 and beyond) are supported, these fields
will be accessible via a management interface.

8.1.2. Administrative Events

An administrative event is an event in which the operator interface
and BGP Policy engine signal the BGP-finite state machine to start or
stop the BGP state machine. The basic start and stop indications are
augmented by optional session attributes that signal a certain type
of start or stop mechanism to the BGP FSM. An example of this
combination is Event 5, AutomaticStart_with_PassiveTcpEstablishment.
With this event, the BGP implementation signals to the BGP FSM that
the implementation is using an Automatic Start with the option to use
a Passive TCP Establishment. The Passive TCP establishment signals
that this BGP FSM will wait for the remote side to start the TCP
establishment.

Note that only Event 1 (ManualStart) and Event 2 (ManualStop) are
mandatory administrative events. All other administrative events are
optional (Events 3-8). Each event below has a name, definition,
status (mandatory or optional), and an "Optional Session Attribute
Status" field that lists the optional session attributes required to
be set for that event to occur. When generating Event 1 through
Event 8 for the BGP FSM, an implementation MUST verify the conditions
listed in that event's Optional Session Attribute Status field before
generating the event. If any of these conditions are not satisfied,
then the local system should log an FSM error.

The settings of optional session attributes may be implicit in some
implementations, and therefore may not be set explicitly by an
external operator action. Section 8.2.1.5 describes these implicit
settings of the optional session attributes. The administrative
states described below may also be implicit in some implementations
and not directly configurable by an external operator.

8.1.2.1. Event 1: ManualStart

Definition: Local system administrator manually starts the peer
connection.

Status: Mandatory

Optional Session Attribute Status: The PassiveTcpEstablishment
session attribute SHOULD be set to FALSE.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 47]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

8.1.2.2. Event 2: ManualStop

Definition: Local system administrator manually stops the peer
connection.

Status: Mandatory

Optional Session Attribute Status: No interaction with any optional
session attributes.

8.1.2.3. Event 3: AutomaticStart

Definition: Local system automatically starts the BGP connection.

Status: Optional, depending on local system

Optional Session Attribute Status:
1. The AllowAutomaticStart session attribute SHOULD be set to
TRUE if this event occurs.

2. If the PassiveTcpEstablishment optional session attribute is
supported, it SHOULD be set to FALSE.

3. If the DampPeerOscillations is supported, it SHOULD be set to
FALSE when this event occurs.

8.1.2.4. Event 4: ManualStart_with_PassiveTcpEstablishment

Definition: Local system administrator manually starts the peer
connection, but has PassiveTcpEstablishment enabled. The
PassiveTcpEstablishment optional session attribute indicates that
the peer will listen prior to establishing the connection.

Status: Optional, depending on local system

Optional Session Attribute Status:
1. The PassiveTcpEstablishment session attribute SHOULD be set to
TRUE if this event occurs.

2. The DampPeerOscillations session attribute SHOULD be set to
FALSE when this event occurs.

8.1.2.5. Event 5: AutomaticStart_with_PassiveTcpEstablishment

Definition: Local system automatically starts the BGP connection
with the PassiveTcpEstablishment enabled. The
PassiveTcpEstablishment optional session attribute indicates that
the peer will listen prior to establishing a connection.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 48]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

Status: Optional, depending on local system

Optional Session Attribute Status:
1. The AllowAutomaticStart session attribute SHOULD be set to
TRUE.

2. The PassiveTcpEstablishment session attribute SHOULD be set to
TRUE.

3. If the DampPeerOscillations session attribute is supported,
the DampPeerOscillations SHOULD be set to FALSE.

8.1.2.6. Event 6: AutomaticStart_with_DampPeerOscillations

Definition: Local system automatically starts the BGP peer
connection with peer oscillation damping enabled. The exact
method of damping persistent peer oscillations is determined by
the implementation and is outside the scope of this document.

Status: Optional, depending on local system.

Optional Session Attribute Status:
1. The AllowAutomaticStart session attribute SHOULD be set to
TRUE.

2. The DampPeerOscillations session attribute SHOULD be set to
TRUE.

3. The PassiveTcpEstablishment session attribute SHOULD be set to
FALSE.

8.1.2.7. Event 7:
AutomaticStart_with_DampPeerOscillations_and_PassiveTcpEstablishment

Definition: Local system automatically starts the BGP peer
connection with peer oscillation damping enabled and
PassiveTcpEstablishment enabled. The exact method of damping
persistent peer oscillations is determined by the implementation
and is outside the scope of this document.

Status: Optional, depending on local system

Optional Session Attributes Status:
1. The AllowAutomaticStart session attribute SHOULD be set to
TRUE.

2. The DampPeerOscillations session attribute SHOULD be set to
TRUE.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 49]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

3. The PassiveTcpEstablishment session attribute SHOULD be set to
TRUE.

8.1.2.8. Event 8: AutomaticStop

Definition: Local system automatically stops the BGP connection.

An example of an automatic stop event is exceeding the number of
prefixes for a given peer and the local system automatically
disconnecting the peer.

Status: Optional, depending on local system

Optional Session Attribute Status:
1. The AllowAutomaticStop session attribute SHOULD be TRUE.

8.1.3. Timer Events

8.1.3.1. Event 9: ConnectRetryTimer_Expires

Definition: An event generated when the ConnectRetryTimer expires.

Status: Mandatory

8.1.3.2. Event 10: HoldTimer_Expires

Definition: An event generated when the HoldTimer expires.

Status: Mandatory

8.1.3.3. Event 11: KeepaliveTimer_Expires

Definition: An event generated when the KeepaliveTimer expires.

Status: Mandatory

8.1.3.4. Event 12: DelayOpenTimer_Expires

Definition: An event generated when the DelayOpenTimer expires.

Status: Optional

Optional Session Attribute Status: If this event occurs,

1. DelayOpen session attribute SHOULD be set to TRUE,

2. DelayOpenTime session attribute SHOULD be supported,

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 50]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

3. DelayOpenTimer SHOULD be supported.

8.1.3.5. Event 13: IdleHoldTimer_Expires

Definition: An event generated when the IdleHoldTimer expires,
indicating that the BGP connection has completed waiting for the
back-off period to prevent BGP peer oscillation.

The IdleHoldTimer is only used when the persistent peer
oscillation damping function is enabled by setting the
DampPeerOscillations optional session attribute to TRUE.

Implementations not implementing the persistent peer oscillation
damping function may not have the IdleHoldTimer.

Status: Optional

Optional Session Attribute Status: If this event occurs:

1. DampPeerOscillations session attribute SHOULD be set to TRUE.

2. IdleHoldTimer SHOULD have just expired.

8.1.4. TCP Connection-Based Events

8.1.4.1. Event 14: TcpConnection_Valid

Definition: Event indicating the local system reception of a TCP
connection request with a valid source IP address, TCP port,
destination IP address, and TCP Port. The definition of invalid
source and invalid destination IP address is determined by the
implementation.

BGP's destination port SHOULD be port 179, as defined by IANA.

TCP connection request is denoted by the local system receiving a
TCP SYN.

Status: Optional

Optional Session Attribute Status:
1. The TrackTcpState session attribute SHOULD be set to TRUE if
this event occurs.

8.1.4.2. Event 15: Tcp_CR_Invalid

Definition: Event indicating the local system reception of a TCP

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 51]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

connection request with either an invalid source address or port
number, or an invalid destination address or port number.

BGP destination port number SHOULD be 179, as defined by IANA.

A TCP connection request occurs when the local system receives a
TCP SYN.

Status: Optional

Optional Session Attribute Status:
1. The TrackTcpState session attribute should be set to TRUE if
this event occurs.

8.1.4.3. Event 16: Tcp_CR_Acked

Definition: Event indicating the local system's request to establish
a TCP connection to the remote peer.

The local system's TCP connection sent a TCP SYN, received a TCP
SYN/ACK message, and sent a TCP ACK.

Status: Mandatory

8.1.4.4. Event 17: TcpConnectionConfirmed

Definition: Event indicating that the local system has received a
confirmation that the TCP connection has been established by the
remote site.

The remote peer's TCP engine sent a TCP SYN. The local peer's TCP
engine sent a SYN, ACK message and now has received a final ACK.

Status: Mandatory

8.1.4.5. Event 18: TcpConnectionFails

Definition: Event indicating that the local system has received a
TCP connection failure notice.

The remote BGP peer's TCP machine could have sent a FIN. The
local peer would respond with a FIN-ACK. Another possibility is
that the local peer indicated a timeout in the TCP connection and
downed the connection.

Status: Mandatory

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 52]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

8.1.5. BGP Message-Based Events

8.1.5.1. Event 19: BGPOpen

Definition: An event is generated when a valid OPEN message has been
received.

Status: Mandatory

Optional Session Attribute Status:
1. The DelayOpen optional session attribute SHOULD be set to
FALSE.

2. The DelayOpenTimer SHOULD not be running.

8.1.5.2. Event 20: BGPOpen with DelayOpenTimer running

Definition: An event is generated when a valid OPEN message has been
received for a peer that has a successfully established transport
connection and is currently delaying the sending of a BGP open
message.

Status: Optional

Optional Session Attribute Status:
1. The DelayOpen session attribute SHOULD be set to TRUE.

2. The DelayOpenTimer SHOULD be running.

8.1.5.3. Event 21: BGPHeaderErr

Definition: An event is generated when a received BGP message header
is not valid.

Status: Mandatory

8.1.5.4. Event 22: BGPOpenMsgErr

Definition: An event is generated when an OPEN message has been
received with errors.

Status: Mandatory

8.1.5.5. Event 23: OpenCollisionDump

Definition: An event generated administratively when a connection

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 53]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

collision has been detected while processing an incoming OPEN
message and this connection has been selected to be disconnected.
See Section 6.9 for more information on collision detection.

Event 23 is an administrative action generated by implementation
logic that determines whether this connection needs to be dropped
per the rules in Section 6.9. This event may occur if the FSM is
implemented as two linked state machines.

Status: Optional

Optional Session Attribute Status: If the state machine is to
process this event in the Established state,

1. CollisionDetectEstablishedState optional session attribute
SHOULD be set to TRUE.

Please note: The OpenCollisionDump event can occur in Idle,
Connect, Active, OpenSent, and OpenConfirm without any optional
session attributes being set.

8.1.5.6. Event 24: NotifMsgVerErr

Definition: An event is generated when a NOTIFICATION message with
"version error" is received.

Status: Mandatory

8.1.5.7. Event 25: NotifMsg

Definition: An event is generated when a NOTIFICATION message is
received and the error code is anything but "version error".

Status: Mandatory

8.1.5.8. Event 26: KeepAliveMsg

Definition: An event is generated when a KEEPALIVE message is
received.

Status: Mandatory

8.1.5.9. Event 27: UpdateMsg

Definition: An event is generated when a valid UPDATE message is
received.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 54]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

Status: Mandatory

8.1.5.10. Event 28: UpdateMsgErr

Definition: An event is generated when an invalid UPDATE message is
received.

Status: Mandatory

8.1.5.11. Event 29: SendHoldTimer_Expires

Definition: An event generated when the SendHoldTimer expires.

Status: Optional

8.2. Description of FSM

8.2.1. FSM Definition

BGP MUST maintain a separate FSM for each configured peer. Each BGP
peer paired in a potential connection will attempt to connect to the
other, unless configured to remain in the idle state, or configured
to remain passive. For the purpose of this discussion, the active or
connecting side of the TCP connection (the side of a TCP connection
sending the first TCP SYN packet) is called outgoing. The passive or
listening side (the sender of the first SYN/ACK) is called an
incoming connection. (See Section 8.2.1.1 for information on the
terms active and passive used below.)

A BGP implementation MUST connect to and listen on TCP port 179 for
incoming connections in addition to trying to connect to peers. For
each incoming connection, a state machine MUST be instantiated.
There exists a period in which the identity of the peer on the other
end of an incoming connection is known, but the BGP identifier is not
known. During this time, both an incoming and outgoing connection
may exist for the same configured peering. This is referred to as a
connection collision (see Section 6.9).

A BGP implementation will have, at most, one FSM for each configured
peering, plus one FSM for each incoming TCP connection for which the
peer has not yet been identified. Each FSM corresponds to exactly
one TCP connection.

There may be more than one connection between a pair of peers if the
connections are configured to use a different pair of IP addresses.
This is referred to as multiple "configured peerings" to the same
peer.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 55]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

8.2.1.1. Terms "active" and "passive"

The terms active and passive have been in the Internet operator's
vocabulary for almost a decade and have proven useful. The words
active and passive have slightly different meanings when applied to a
TCP connection or a peer. There is only one active side and one
passive side to any one TCP connection, per the definition above and
the state machine below. When a BGP speaker is configured as active,
it may end up on either the active or passive side of the connection
that eventually gets established. Once the TCP connection is
completed, it doesn't matter which end was active and which was
passive. The only difference is in which side of the TCP connection
has port number 179.

8.2.1.2. FSM and Collision Detection

There is one FSM per BGP connection. When the connection collision
occurs prior to determining what peer a connection is associated
with, there may be two connections for one peer. After the
connection collision is resolved (see Section 6.9), the FSM for the
connection that is closed SHOULD be disposed.

8.2.1.3. FSM and Optional Session Attributes

Optional Session Attributes specify either attributes that act as
flags (TRUE or FALSE) or optional timers. For optional session
attributes that act as flags, if the optional session attribute can
be set to TRUE on the system, the corresponding BGP FSM actions must
be supported. For example, if the following options can be set in a
BGP implementation: AutoStart and PassiveTcpEstablishment, then
Events 3, 4 and 5 must be supported. If an Optional Session
attribute cannot be set to TRUE, the events supporting that set of
options do not have to be supported.

Each of the optional timers (DelayOpenTimer and IdleHoldTimer) has a
group of session attributes that are:

* flag indicating support,

* Time set in Timer

* Timer.

The two optional timers show this format:

DelayOpenTimer: DelayOpen, DelayOpenTime, DelayOpenTimer
IdleHoldTimer: DampPeerOscillations, IdleHoldTime,
IdleHoldTimer

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 56]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

If the flag indicating support for an optional timer (DelayOpen or
DampPeerOscillations) cannot be set to TRUE, the timers and events
supporting that option do not have to be supported.

8.2.1.4. FSM Event Numbers

The Event numbers (1-28) utilized in this state machine description
aid in specifying the behavior of the BGP state machine.
Implementations MAY use these numbers to provide network management
information. The exact form of an FSM or the FSM events are specific
to each implementation.

8.2.1.5. FSM Actions that are Implementation Dependent

At certain points, the BGP FSM specifies that BGP initialization will
occur or that BGP resources will be deleted. The initialization of
the BGP FSM and the associated resources depend on the policy portion
of the BGP implementation. The details of these actions are outside
the scope of the FSM document.

8.2.2. Finite State Machine

8.2.2.1. Idle state:

Initially, the BGP peer FSM is in the Idle state. Hereafter, the BGP
peer FSM will be shortened to BGP FSM.

In this state, BGP FSM refuses all incoming BGP connections for this
peer. No resources are allocated to the peer. In response to a
ManualStart event (Event 1) or an AutomaticStart event (Event 3), the
local system:

* initializes all BGP resources for the peer connection,

* sets ConnectRetryCounter to zero,

* starts the ConnectRetryTimer with the initial value,

* initiates a TCP connection to the other BGP peer,

* listens for a connection that may be initiated by the remote BGP
peer, and

* changes its state to Connect.

The ManualStop event (Event 2) and AutomaticStop (Event 8) event are
ignored in the Idle state.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 57]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

In response to a ManualStart_with_PassiveTcpEstablishment event
(Event 4) or AutomaticStart_with_PassiveTcpEstablishment event (Event
5), the local system:

* initializes all BGP resources,

* sets the ConnectRetryCounter to zero,

* starts the ConnectRetryTimer with the initial value,

* listens for a connection that may be initiated by the remote peer,
and

* changes its state to Active.

The exact value of the ConnectRetryTimer is a local matter, but it
SHOULD be sufficiently large to allow TCP initialization.

If the DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, the
following three additional events may occur within the Idle state:

* AutomaticStart_with_DampPeerOscillations (Event 6),

* AutomaticStart_with_DampPeerOscillations_and_
PassiveTcpEstablishment (Event 7),

* IdleHoldTimer_Expires (Event 13).

Upon receiving these 3 events, the local system will use these events
to prevent peer oscillations. The method of preventing persistent
peer oscillation is outside the scope of this document.

Any other event (Events 9-12, 15-28) received in the Idle state does
not cause change in the state of the local system.

8.2.2.2. Connect State:

In this state, BGP FSM is waiting for the TCP connection to be
completed.

The start events (Events 1, 3-7) are ignored in the Connect state.

In response to a ManualStop event (Event 2), the local system:

* drops the TCP connection,

* releases all BGP resources,

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 58]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* sets ConnectRetryCounter to zero,

* stops the ConnectRetryTimer and sets ConnectRetryTimer to ero, and

* changes its state to Idle.

In response to the ConnectRetryTimer_Expires event (Event 9), the
local system:

* drops the TCP connection,

* restarts the ConnectRetryTimer,

* stops the DelayOpenTimer and resets the timer to zero,

* initiates a TCP connection to the other BGP peer,

* continues to listen for a connection that may be initiated by the
remote BGP peer, and

* stays in the Connect state.

If the DelayOpenTimer_Expires event (Event 12) occurs in the Connect
state, the local system:

* sends an OPEN message to its peer,

* sets the HoldTimer to a large value, and

* changes its state to OpenSent.

If the BGP FSM receives a TcpConnection_Valid event (Event 14), the
TCP connection is processed, and the connection remains in the
Connect state.

If the BGP FSM receives a Tcp_CR_Invalid event (Event 15), the local
system rejects the TCP connection, and the connection remains in the
Connect state.

If the TCP connection succeeds (Event 16 or Event 17), the local
system checks the DelayOpen session attribute prior to processing.
If the DelayOpen session attribute is set to TRUE, the local system:

* stops the ConnectRetryTimer (if running) and sets the
ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* sets the DelayOpenTimer to the initial value, and

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 59]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* stays in the Connect state.

If the DelayOpen session attribute is set to FALSE, the local system:

* stops the ConnectRetryTimer (if running) and sets the
ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* completes BGP initialization

* sends an OPEN message to its peer,

* sets the HoldTimer to a large value, and

* changes its state to OpenSent.

A HoldTimer value of 4 minutes is suggested.

If the TCP connection fails (Event 18), the local system checks the
DelayOpenTimer. If the DelayOpenTimer is running, the local system:

* restarts the ConnectRetryTimer with the initial value,

* stops the DelayOpenTimer and resets its value to zero,

* continues to listen for a connection that may be initiated by the
remote BGP peer, and

* changes its state to Active.

If the DelayOpenTimer is not running, the local system:

* stops the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* drops the TCP connection,

* releases all BGP resources, and

* changes its state to Idle.

If an OPEN message is received while the DelayOpenTimer is running
(Event 20), the local system:

* stops the ConnectRetryTimer (if running) and sets the
ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* completes the BGP initialization,

* stops and clears the DelayOpenTimer (sets the value to zero),

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 60]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* sends an OPEN message,

* sends a KEEPALIVE message,

* if the HoldTimer initial value is non-zero,

- starts the KeepaliveTimer with the initial value and

- resets the HoldTimer to the negotiated value,

else, if the HoldTimer initial value is zero,

- resets the KeepaliveTimer and

- resets the HoldTimer value to zero,

* and changes its state to OpenConfirm.

If the value of the autonomous system field is the same as the local
Autonomous System number, set the connection status to an internal
connection; otherwise it will be "external".

If BGP message header checking (Event 21) or OPEN message checking
detects an error (Event 22) (see Section 6.2), the local system:

* (optionally) If the SendNOTIFICATIONwithoutOPEN session attribute
is set to TRUE, then the local system first sends a NOTIFICATION
message with the appropriate error code, and then

* stops the ConnectRetryTimer (if running) and sets the
ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

If a NOTIFICATION message is received with a version error (Event
24), the local system checks the DelayOpenTimer. If the
DelayOpenTimer is running, the local system:

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 61]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* stops the ConnectRetryTimer (if running) and sets the
ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* stops and resets the DelayOpenTimer (sets to zero),

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection, and

* changes its state to Idle.

If the DelayOpenTimer is not running, the local system:

* stops the ConnectRetryTimer and sets the ConnectRetryTimer to
zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* performs peer oscillation damping if the DampPeerOscillations
session attribute is set to True, and

* changes its state to Idle.

In response to any other events (Events 8, 10-11, 13, 19, 23, 25-28),
the local system:

* if the ConnectRetryTimer is running, stops and resets the
ConnectRetryTimer (sets to zero),

* if the DelayOpenTimer is running, stops and resets the
DelayOpenTimer (sets to zero),

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* performs peer oscillation damping if the DampPeerOscillations
session attribute is set to True, and

* changes its state to Idle.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 62]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

8.2.2.3. Active State:

In this state, BGP FSM is trying to acquire a peer by listening for,
and accepting, a TCP connection.

The start events (Events 1, 3-7) are ignored in the Active state.

In response to a ManualStop event (Event 2), the local system:

* If the DelayOpenTimer is running and the
SendNOTIFICATIONwithoutOPEN session attribute is set, the local
system sends a NOTIFICATION with a Cease,

* releases all BGP resources including stopping the DelayOpenTimer

* drops the TCP connection,

* sets ConnectRetryCounter to zero,

* stops the ConnectRetryTimer and sets the ConnectRetryTimer to
zero, and

* changes its state to Idle.

In response to a ConnectRetryTimer_Expires event (Event 9), the local
system:

* restarts the ConnectRetryTimer (with initial value),

* initiates a TCP connection to the other BGP peer,

* continues to listen for a TCP connection that may be initiated by
a remote BGP peer, and

* changes its state to Connect.

If the local system receives a DelayOpenTimer_Expires event (Event
12), the local system:

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* stops and clears the DelayOpenTimer (set to zero),

* completes the BGP initialization,

* sends the OPEN message to its remote peer,

* sets its hold timer to a large value, and

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 63]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* changes its state to OpenSent.

A HoldTimer value of 4 minutes is also suggested for this state
transition.

If the local system receives a TcpConnection_Valid event (Event 14),
the local system processes the TCP connection flags and stays in the
Active state.

If the local system receives a Tcp_CR_Invalid event (Event 15), the
local system rejects the TCP connection and stays in the Active
State.

In response to the success of a TCP connection (Event 16 or Event
17), the local system checks the DelayOpen optional session attribute
prior to processing.

If the DelayOpen session attribute is set to TRUE, the local system:

* stops the ConnectRetryTimer and sets the ConnectRetryTimer to
zero,

* sets the DelayOpenTimer to the initial value (DelayOpenTime), and

* stays in the Active state.

If the DelayOpen session attribute is set to FALSE, the local system:

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* completes the BGP initialization,

* sends the OPEN message to its peer,

* sets its HoldTimer to a large value, and

* changes its state to OpenSent.

A HoldTimer value of 4 minutes is suggested as a "large value" for
the HoldTimer.

If the local system receives a TcpConnectionFails event (Event 18),
the local system:

* restarts the ConnectRetryTimer (with the initial value),

* stops and clears the DelayOpenTimer (sets the value to zero),

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 64]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* releases all BGP resource,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* optionally performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

If an OPEN message is received and the DelayOpenTimer is running
(Event 20), the local system:

* stops the ConnectRetryTimer (if running) and sets the
ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* stops and clears the DelayOpenTimer (sets to zero),

* completes the BGP initialization,

* sends an OPEN message,

* sends a KEEPALIVE message,

* if the HoldTimer value is non-zero,

- starts the KeepaliveTimer to initial value,

- resets the HoldTimer to the negotiated value,

else if the HoldTimer is zero

- resets the KeepaliveTimer (set to zero),

- resets the HoldTimer to zero, and

* changes its state to OpenConfirm.

If the value of the autonomous system field is the same as the local
Autonomous System number, set the connection status to an internal
connection; otherwise it will be external.

If BGP message header checking (Event 21) or OPEN message checking
detects an error (Event 22) (see Section 6.2), the local system:

* (optionally) sends a NOTIFICATION message with the appropriate
error code if the SendNOTIFICATIONwithoutOPEN session attribute is
set to TRUE,

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 65]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

If a NOTIFICATION message is received with a version error (Event
24), the local system checks the DelayOpenTimer. If the
DelayOpenTimer is running, the local system:

* stops the ConnectRetryTimer (if running) and sets the
ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* stops and resets the DelayOpenTimer (sets to zero),

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection, and

* changes its state to Idle.

If the DelayOpenTimer is not running, the local system:

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

In response to any other event (Events 8, 10-11, 13, 19, 23, 25-28),
the local system:

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 66]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by one,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

8.2.2.4. OpenSent:

In this state, BGP FSM waits for an OPEN message from its peer.

The start events (Events 1, 3-7) are ignored in the OpenSent state.

If a ManualStop event (Event 2) is issued in the OpenSent state, the
local system:

* sends the NOTIFICATION with a Cease,

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* sets the ConnectRetryCounter to zero, and

* changes its state to Idle.

If an AutomaticStop event (Event 8) is issued in the OpenSent state,
the local system:

* sends the NOTIFICATION with a Cease,

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all the BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 67]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* changes its state to Idle.

If the HoldTimer_Expires (Event 10), the local system:

* sends a NOTIFICATION message with the error code Hold Timer
Expired,

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

If a TcpConnection_Valid (Event 14), Tcp_CR_Acked (Event 16), or a
TcpConnectionConfirmed event (Event 17) is received, a second TCP
connection may be in progress. This second TCP connection is tracked
per Connection Collision processing (Section 6.9) until an OPEN
message is received.

A TCP Connection Request for an Invalid port (Tcp_CR_Invalid (Event
15)) is ignored.

If a TcpConnectionFails event (Event 18) is received, the local
system:

* closes the BGP connection,

* restarts the ConnectRetryTimer,

* continues to listen for a connection that may be initiated by the
remote BGP peer, and

* changes its state to Active.

When an OPEN message is received, all fields are checked for
correctness. If there are no errors in the OPEN message (Event 19),
the local system:

* resets the DelayOpenTimer to zero,

* sets the BGP ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 68]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* sends a KEEPALIVE message, and

* sets a KeepaliveTimer (via the text below)

* sets the HoldTimer according to the negotiated value (see
Section 4.2),

* changes its state to OpenConfirm.

If the negotiated hold time value is zero, then the HoldTimer and
KeepaliveTimer are not started. If the value of the Autonomous
System field is the same as the local Autonomous System number, then
the connection is an "internal" connection; otherwise, it is an
"external" connection. (This will impact UPDATE processing as
described below.)

If the BGP message header checking (Event 21) or OPEN message
checking detects an error (Event 22)(see Section 6.2), the local
system:

* sends a NOTIFICATION message with the appropriate error code,

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

Collision detection mechanisms (Section 6.9) need to be applied when
a valid BGP OPEN message is received (Event 19 or Event 20). Please
refer to Section 6.9 for the details of the comparison. A
CollisionDetectDump event occurs when the BGP implementation
determines, by means outside the scope of this document, that a
connection collision has occurred.

If a connection in the OpenSent state is determined to be the
connection that must be closed, an OpenCollisionDump (Event 23) is
signaled to the state machine. If such an event is received in the
OpenSent state, the local system:

* sends a NOTIFICATION with a Cease,

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 69]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

If a NOTIFICATION message is received with a version error (Event
24), the local system:

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection, and

* changes its state to Idle.

In response to any other event (Events 9, 11-13, 20, 25-28), the
local system:

* sends the NOTIFICATION with the Error Code Finite State Machine
Error,

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

8.2.2.5. OpenConfirm State:

In this state, BGP waits for a KEEPALIVE or NOTIFICATION message.

Any start event (Events 1, 3-7) is ignored in the OpenConfirm state.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 70]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

In response to a ManualStop event (Event 2) initiated by the
operator, the local system:

* sends the NOTIFICATION message with a Cease,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* sets the ConnectRetryCounter to zero,

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero, and

* changes its state to Idle.

In response to the AutomaticStop event initiated by the system (Event
8), the local system:

* sends the NOTIFICATION message with a Cease,

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

If the HoldTimer_Expires event (Event 10) occurs before a KEEPALIVE
message is received, the local system:

* sends the NOTIFICATION message with the Error Code Hold Timer
Expired,

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 71]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

If the local system receives a KeepaliveTimer_Expires event (Event
11), the local system:

* sends a KEEPALIVE message,

* restarts the KeepaliveTimer, and

* remains in the OpenConfirm state.

In the event of a TcpConnection_Valid event (Event 14), or the
success of a TCP connection (Event 16 or Event 17) while in
OpenConfirm, the local system needs to track the second connection.

If a TCP connection is attempted with an invalid port (Event 15), the
local system will ignore the second connection attempt.

If the local system receives a TcpConnectionFails event (Event 18)
from the underlying TCP or a NOTIFICATION message (Event 25), the
local system:

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

If the local system receives a NOTIFICATION message with a version
error (NotifMsgVerErr (Event 24)), the local system:

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection, and

* changes its state to Idle.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 72]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

If the local system receives a valid OPEN message (BGPOpen (Event
19)), the collision detect function is processed per Section 6.9. If
this connection is to be dropped due to connection collision, the
local system:

* sends a NOTIFICATION with a Cease,

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection (send TCP FIN),

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

If an OPEN message is received, all fields are checked for
correctness. If the BGP message header checking (BGPHeaderErr (Event
21)) or OPEN message checking detects an error (see Section 6.2)
(BGPOpenMsgErr (Event 22)), the local system:

* sends a NOTIFICATION message with the appropriate error code,

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

If, during the processing of another OPEN message, the BGP
implementation determines, by a means outside the scope of this
document, that a connection collision has occurred and this
connection is to be closed, the local system will issue an
OpenCollisionDump event (Event 23). When the local system receives
an OpenCollisionDump event (Event 23), the local system:

* sends a NOTIFICATION with a Cease,

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 73]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

If the local system receives a KEEPALIVE message (KeepAliveMsg (Event
26)), the local system:

* restarts its HoldTimer, if the negotiated HoldTime value is non-
zero, and

* starts the SendHoldTimer if the SendHoldTime and the negotiated
HoldTime are both non-zero, and

* changes its state to Established.

In response to any other event (Events 9, 12-13, 20, 27-28), the
local system:

* sends a NOTIFICATION with a code of Finite State Machine Error,

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

8.2.2.6. Established State:

In the Established state, the BGP FSM can exchange UPDATE,
NOTIFICATION, and KEEPALIVE messages with its peer.

Any Start event (Events 1, 3-7) is ignored in the Established state.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 74]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

In response to a ManualStop event (initiated by an operator) (Event
2), the local system:

* sends the NOTIFICATION message with a Cease,

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* deletes all routes associated with this connection,

* releases BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* sets the ConnectRetryCounter to zero, and

* changes its state to Idle.

In response to an AutomaticStop event (Event 8), the local system:

* sends a NOTIFICATION with a Cease,

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero

* deletes all routes associated with this connection,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

One reason for an AutomaticStop event is: A BGP receives an UPDATE
messages with a number of prefixes for a given peer such that the
total prefixes received exceeds the maximum number of prefixes
configured. The local system automatically disconnects the peer.

If the HoldTimer_Expires event occurs (Event 10), the local system:

* deletes all routes associated with this connection,

* sends a NOTIFICATION message with the Error Code Hold Timer
Expired,

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 75]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

If the KeepaliveTimer_Expires event occurs (Event 11), the local
system:

* sends a KEEPALIVE message, and

* restarts its KeepaliveTimer, unless the negotiated HoldTime value
is zero.

Each time the local system sends a KEEPALIVE or UPDATE message, it
restarts its KeepaliveTimer, unless the negotiated HoldTime value is
zero.

If the SendHoldTimer_Expires (Event 29) occurs, the local system:

* (optionally) sends a NOTIFICATION message with the BGP Error Code
"Send Hold Timer Expired" if the local system can determine that
doing so will not delay the following actions in this paragraph,

* logs an error message in the local system with the BGP Error Code
"Send Hold Timer Expired",

* releases all BGP resources,

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 76]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

Each time the local system sends a BGP message, it restarts the
SendHoldTimer unless the SendHoldTime value is zero or the negotiated
HoldTime value is zero, in which case the SendHoldTimer is stopped.

The SendHoldTimer is stopped following any transition out of the
Established state as part of the "release all BGP resources" action.

A TcpConnection_Valid (Event 14), received for a valid port, will
cause the second connection to be tracked.

An invalid TCP connection (Tcp_CR_Invalid event (Event 15)) will be
ignored.

In response to an indication that the TCP connection is successfully
established (Event 16 or Event 17), the second connection SHALL be
tracked until it sends an OPEN message.

If a valid OPEN message (BGPOpen (Event 19)) is received, and if the
CollisionDetectEstablishedState optional session attribute is TRUE,
the OPEN message will be checked to see if it collides (Section 6.9)
with any other connection. If the BGP implementation determines that
this connection needs to be terminated, it will process an
OpenCollisionDump event (Event 23). If this connection needs to be
terminated, the local system:

* sends a NOTIFICATION with a Cease,

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* deletes all routes associated with this connection,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

If the local system receives a NOTIFICATION message (Event 24 or
Event 25) or a TcpConnectionFails (Event 18) from the underlying TCP,
the local system:

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 77]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* deletes all routes associated with this connection,

* releases all the BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* changes its state to Idle.

If the local system receives a KEEPALIVE message (Event 26), the
local system:

* restarts its HoldTimer, if the negotiated HoldTime value is non-
zero, and

* remains in the Established state.

If the local system receives an UPDATE message (Event 27), the local
system:

* processes the message,

* restarts its HoldTimer, if the negotiated HoldTime value is non-
zero, and

* remains in the Established state.

If the local system receives an UPDATE message, and the UPDATE
message error handling procedure (see Section 6.3) detects an error
(Event 28), the local system:

* sends a NOTIFICATION message with an Update error,

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* deletes all routes associated with this connection,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 78]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

In response to any other event (Events 9, 12-13, 20-22), the local
system:

* sends a NOTIFICATION message with the Error Code Finite State
Machine Error,

* deletes all routes associated with this connection,

* sets the ConnectRetryTimer to zero,

* releases all BGP resources,

* drops the TCP connection,

* increments the ConnectRetryCounter by 1,

* (optionally) performs peer oscillation damping if the
DampPeerOscillations session attribute is set to TRUE, and

* changes its state to Idle.

9. UPDATE Message Handling

An UPDATE message may be received only in the Established state.
Receiving an UPDATE message in any other state is an error. When an
UPDATE message is received, each field is checked for validity, as
specified in Section 6.3.

If an optional non-transitive attribute is unrecognized, it is
quietly discarded. If an optional transitive attribute is
unrecognized, the Partial bit (the third high-order bit) in the
attribute flags octet is set to 1, and the attribute is retained for
propagation to other BGP speakers.

If an optional attribute is recognized and has a valid value, then,
depending on the type of the optional attribute, it is processed
locally, retained, and updated, if necessary, for possible
propagation to other BGP speakers.

If the UPDATE message contains a non-empty WITHDRAWN ROUTES field,
the previously advertised routes, whose destinations (expressed as IP
prefixes) are contained in this field, SHALL be removed from the Adj-
RIB-In. This BGP speaker SHALL run its Decision Process because the
previously advertised route is no longer available for use.

If the UPDATE message contains a feasible route, the Adj-RIB-In will
be updated with this route as follows: if the NLRI of the new route
is identical to the NLRI of a route associated with the same BGP

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 79]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

session that is currently stored in the Adj-RIB-In, then the new
route SHALL replace the older route in the Adj-RIB-In, thus
implicitly withdrawing the older route from service. Otherwise, if
the Adj-RIB-In has no such older route, the new route SHALL be placed
in the Adj-RIB-In.

Once the BGP speaker updates the Adj-RIB-In, the speaker SHALL run
its Decision Process.

9.1. Decision Process

The Decision Process selects routes for subsequent advertisement by
applying the policies in the local Policy Information Base (PIB) to
the routes stored in its Adj-RIBs-In. The output of the Decision
Process is the set of routes that will be advertised to peers; the
selected routes will be stored in the local speaker's Adj-RIBs-Out,
according to policy.

The BGP Decision Process described here is conceptual, and does not
have to be implemented precisely as described, as long as the
implementations support the described functionality and they exhibit
the same externally visible behavior.

The selection process is formalized by defining a function that takes
the attributes of a given route as an argument and returns either (a)
a non-negative integer denoting the degree of preference for the
route, or (b) a value denoting that this route is ineligible to be
installed in Loc-RIB and will be excluded from the next phase of
route selection.

The function that calculates the degree of preference for a given
route SHALL NOT use any of the following as its inputs: the existence
of other routes, the non-existence of other routes, or the path
attributes of other routes. Route selection then consists of the
individual application of the degree of preference function to each
feasible route, followed by the choice of the one with the highest
degree of preference.

The Decision Process operates on routes contained in the Adj-RIBs-In,
and is responsible for:

* selection of routes to be used locally by the speaker

* selection of routes to be advertised to other BGP peers

* route aggregation and route information reduction

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 80]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

Routes contained in an Adj-RIB-In associated with an EBGP peer SHALL
NOT be considered eligible in the Decision Process if no explicit
Import Policy has been applied.

The Decision Process takes place in three distinct phases, each
triggered by a different event:

a) Phase 1 is responsible for calculating the degree of preference
for each route received from a peer.

b) Phase 2 is invoked on completion of phase 1. It is responsible
for choosing the best route out of all those available for each
distinct destination, and for installing each chosen route into
the Loc-RIB.

c) Phase 3 is invoked after the Loc-RIB has been modified. It is
responsible for disseminating routes in the Loc-RIB to each peer,
according to the policies contained in the PIB. Route
aggregation and information reduction can optionally be performed
within this phase.

9.1.1. Phase 1: Calculation of Degree of Preference

The Phase 1 decision function is invoked whenever the local BGP
speaker receives, from a peer, an UPDATE message that advertises a
new route, a replacement route, or a withdrawn route.

The Phase 1 decision function is a separate process, which completes
when it has no further work to do.

The Phase 1 decision function locks an Adj-RIB-In prior to operating
on any route contained within it, and unlocks it after operating on
all new or unfeasible routes contained within it.

For each newly received or replacement feasible route, the local BGP
speaker determines a degree of preference as follows:

If the route is learned from an internal peer, either the value of
the LOCAL_PREF attribute is taken as the degree of preference, or
the local system computes the degree of preference of the route
based on preconfigured policy information. Note that the latter
may result in formation of persistent routing loops.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 81]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

If the route is learned from an external peer, then the local BGP
speaker computes the degree of preference based on preconfigured
policy information. If the return value indicates the route is
ineligible, the route MUST NOT serve as an input to the next phase
of route selection; otherwise, the return value MUST be used as
the LOCAL_PREF value in any propagation of the route into IBGP.

The exact nature of this policy information, and the computation
involved, is a local matter.

9.1.2. Phase 2: Route Selection

The Phase 2 decision function is invoked on completion of Phase 1.
The Phase 2 function is a separate process, which completes when it
has no further work to do. The Phase 2 process considers all routes
that are eligible in the Adj-RIBs-In.

The Phase 2 decision function is blocked from running while the Phase
3 decision function is in process. The Phase 2 function locks all
Adj-RIBs-In prior to commencing its function, and unlocks them on
completion.

If the NEXT_HOP attribute of a BGP route depicts an address that is
not resolvable, or if it would become unresolvable if the route was
installed in the routing table, the BGP route MUST be excluded from
the Phase 2 decision function.

If the AS_PATH attribute of a BGP route contains an AS loop, the BGP
route should be excluded from the Phase 2 decision function. AS loop
detection is done by scanning the full AS path (as specified in the
AS_PATH attribute), and checking that the autonomous system number of
the local system does not appear in the AS path. Operations of a BGP
speaker that is configured to accept routes with its own autonomous
system number in the AS path are outside the scope of this document.
[RFC7705], if used, documents variations on this procedure.

It is critical that BGP speakers within an AS do not make conflicting
decisions regarding route selection that would cause forwarding loops
to occur.

For each set of destinations for which a feasible route exists in the
Adj-RIBs-In, the local BGP speaker identifies the route that has:

a) the highest degree of preference of any route to the same set of
destinations, or

b) is the only route to that destination, or

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 82]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

c) is selected as a result of the Phase 2 tie breaking rules
specified in Section 9.1.2.2.

The local speaker SHALL then install that route in the Loc-RIB,
replacing any route to the same destination that is currently being
held in the Loc-RIB. When the new BGP route is installed in the
Routing Table, care must be taken to ensure that existing routes to
the same destination that are now considered invalid are removed from
the Routing Table. Whether the new BGP route replaces an existing
non-BGP route in the Routing Table depends on the policy configured
on the BGP speaker.

The local speaker MUST determine the immediate next-hop address from
the NEXT_HOP attribute of the selected route (see Section 5.1.3). If
either the immediate next-hop or the IGP cost to the NEXT_HOP (where
the NEXT_HOP is resolved through an IGP route) changes, Phase 2 Route
Selection MUST be performed again.

Notice that even though BGP routes do not have to be installed in the
Routing Table with the immediate next-hop(s), implementations MUST
take care that, before any packets are forwarded along a BGP route,
its associated NEXT_HOP address is resolved to the immediate
(directly connected) next-hop address, and that this address (or
multiple addresses) is finally used for actual packet forwarding.

Unresolvable routes SHALL be removed from the Loc-RIB and the routing
table. However, corresponding unresolvable routes SHOULD be kept in
the Adj-RIBs-In (in case they become resolvable).

9.1.2.1. Route Resolvability Condition

As indicated in Section 9.1.2, BGP speakers exclude unresolvable
routes from the Phase 2 decision. This ensures that only valid
routes are installed in the Loc-RIB and Routing Table.

The route resolvability condition is defined as follows:

1. A route Rte1, referencing only the intermediate network address,
is considered resolvable if the Routing Table contains at least
one resolvable route Rte2 that matches Rte1's intermediate
network address and is not recursively resolved (directly or
indirectly) through Rte1. If multiple matching routes are
available, only the longest matching route is considered.

2. Routes referencing interfaces (with or without intermediate
addresses) are considered resolvable if the state of the
referenced interface is up and if IP processing is enabled on
this interface.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 83]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

BGP routes do not refer to interfaces, but can be resolved through
the routes in the Routing Table that can be of both types (those that
specify interfaces or those that do not). IGP routes and routes to
directly connected networks are expected to specify the outbound
interface. Static routes can specify the outbound interface, the
intermediate address, or both.

Note that a BGP route is considered unresolvable in a situation where
the BGP speaker's Routing Table contains no route matching the BGP
route's NEXT_HOP. Mutually recursive routes (routes resolving each
other or themselves) also fail the resolvability check.

It is also important that implementations do not consider feasible
routes that would become unresolvable if they were installed in the
Routing Table, even if their NEXT_HOPs are resolvable using the
current contents of the Routing Table (an example of such routes
would be mutually recursive routes). This check ensures that a BGP
speaker does not install routes in the Routing Table that will be
removed and not used by the speaker. Therefore, in addition to local
Routing Table stability, this check also improves behavior of the
protocol in the network.

Whenever a BGP speaker identifies a route that fails the
resolvability check because of mutual recursion, an error message
SHOULD be logged.

9.1.2.2. Breaking Ties (Phase 2)

In its Adj-RIBs-In, a BGP speaker may have several routes to the same
destination that have the same degree of preference. The local
speaker can select only one of these routes for inclusion in the
associated Loc-RIB. The local speaker considers all routes with the
same degrees of preference, both those received from internal peers,
and those received from external peers.

The following tie-breaking procedure assumes that, for each candidate
route, all the BGP speakers within an autonomous system can ascertain
the cost of a path (interior distance) to the address depicted by the
NEXT_HOP attribute of the route, and follow the same route selection
algorithm.

The tie-breaking algorithm begins by considering all equally
preferable routes to the same destination, and then selects routes to
be removed from consideration. The algorithm terminates as soon as
only one route remains in consideration. The criteria MUST be
applied in the order specified.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 84]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

Several of the criteria are described using pseudo-code. Note that
the pseudo-code shown was chosen for clarity, not efficiency. It is
not intended to specify any particular implementation. BGP
implementations MAY use any algorithm that produces the same results
as those described here.

a) Remove from consideration all routes that are not tied for having
the smallest number of AS numbers present in their AS_PATH
attributes. Note that when counting this number, an AS_SET
counts as 1, no matter how many ASes are in the set.

b) Remove from consideration all routes that are not tied for having
the lowest Origin number in their Origin attribute.

c) Remove from consideration routes with less-preferred
MULTI_EXIT_DISC attributes. MULTI_EXIT_DISC is only comparable
between routes learned from the same neighboring AS (the
neighboring AS is determined from the AS_PATH attribute). Routes
that do not have the MULTI_EXIT_DISC attribute are considered to
have the lowest possible MULTI_EXIT_DISC value.

This is also described in the following procedure:

for m = all routes still under consideration
for n = all routes still under consideration
if (neighborAS(m) == neighborAS(n)) and (MED(n) < MED(m))
remove route m from consideration

In the pseudo-code above, MED(n) is a function that returns the
value of route n's MULTI_EXIT_DISC attribute. If route n has no
MULTI_EXIT_DISC attribute, the function returns the lowest
possible MULTI_EXIT_DISC value (i.e., 0).

Similarly, neighborAS(n) is a function that returns the neighbor
AS from which the route was received. If the route is learned via
IBGP, and the other IBGP speaker didn't originate the route, it is
the neighbor AS from which the other IBGP speaker learned the
route. If the route is learned via IBGP, and the other IBGP
speaker either (a) originated the route, or (b) created the route
by aggregation and the AS_PATH attribute of the aggregate route is
either empty or begins with an AS_SET, it is the local AS.

If a MULTI_EXIT_DISC attribute is removed before re-advertising a
route into IBGP, then comparison based on the received EBGP
MULTI_EXIT_DISC attribute MAY still be performed. If an
implementation chooses to remove MULTI_EXIT_DISC, then the
optional comparison on MULTI_EXIT_DISC, if performed, MUST be
performed only among EBGP-learned routes. The best EBGP- learned

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 85]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

route may then be compared with IBGP-learned routes after the
removal of the MULTI_EXIT_DISC attribute. If MULTI_EXIT_DISC is
removed from a subset of EBGP-learned routes, and the selected
"best" EBGP-learned route will not have MULTI_EXIT_DISC removed,
then the MULTI_EXIT_DISC must be used in the comparison with IBGP-
learned routes. For IBGP- learned routes, the MULTI_EXIT_DISC
MUST be used in route comparisons that reach this step in the
Decision Process. Including the MULTI_EXIT_DISC of an EBGP-
learned route in the comparison with an IBGP-learned route, then
removing the MULTI_EXIT_DISC attribute, and advertising the route
has been proven to cause route loops.

d) If at least one of the candidate routes was received via EBGP,
remove from consideration all routes that were not received via
EBGP.

e) Remove from consideration any routes with less-preferred interior
cost. The interior cost of a route is determined by calculating
the metric to the NEXT_HOP for the route using the Routing Table.
If the NEXT_HOP hop for a route is reachable, but no cost can be
determined, that route should remain in consideration, i.e. it is
not considered to be less-preferred. (Some implementations may
choose to render this issue moot by ensuring a cost can always be
determined, by applying a default value for routes that otherwise
would have no cost. The details of such a strategy are beyond
the scope of this document.)

This is also described in the following procedure.

for m = all routes still under consideration
for n = all routes in still under consideration
if (cost(n) is lower than cost(m))
remove m from consideration

In the pseudo-code above, cost(n) is a function that returns the
cost of the path (interior distance) to the address given in the
NEXT_HOP attribute of the route.

f) Remove from consideration all routes other than the route that
was advertised by the BGP speaker with the lowest BGP Identifier
value. ([RFC5004], if used, modifies this rule.)

g) Prefer the route received from the lowest peer address.

9.1.3. Phase 3: Route Dissemination

The Phase 3 decision function is invoked on completion of Phase 2, or
when any of the following events occur:

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 86]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

a) when routes in the Loc-RIB to local destinations have changed

b) when locally generated routes learned by means outside of BGP
have changed

c) when a new BGP speaker connection has been established

The Phase 3 function is a separate process that completes when it has
no further work to do. The Phase 3 Routing Decision function is
blocked from running while the Phase 2 decision function is in
process.

All routes in the Loc-RIB are processed into Adj-RIBs-Out according
to configured policy. This policy MAY exclude a route in the Loc-RIB
from being installed in a particular Adj-RIB-Out. A route SHALL NOT
be installed in the Adj-Rib-Out unless the destination, and NEXT_HOP
described by this route, may be forwarded appropriately by the
Routing Table. If a route to a particular destination is excluded
from a particular Adj-RIB-Out, and if a route to that destination had
previously been advertised from that Adj-RIB-Out, the previously
advertised route in that Adj-RIB-Out MUST be withdrawn from service
by means of an UPDATE message (see Section 9.2).

Routes SHALL NOT be added to an Adj-RIB-Out associated with an EBGP
peer if no explicit Export Policy has been applied.

Route aggregation and information reduction techniques (see
Section 9.2.2.1) may optionally be applied.

Any local policy that results in routes being added to an Adj-RIB-Out
without also being added to the local BGP speaker's forwarding table
is outside the scope of this document.

When the updating of the Adj-RIBs-Out and the Routing Table is
complete, the local BGP speaker runs the Update-Send process of
Section 9.2.

9.1.4. Overlapping Routes

A BGP speaker may transmit routes with overlapping Network Layer
Reachability Information (NLRI) to another BGP speaker. NLRI overlap
occurs when a set of destinations are identified in non-matching
multiple routes. Because BGP encodes NLRI using IP prefixes, overlap
will always exhibit subset relationships. A route describing a
smaller set of destinations (a longer prefix) is said to be more
specific than a route describing a larger set of destinations (a
shorter prefix); similarly, a route describing a larger set of
destinations is said to be less specific than a route describing a

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 87]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

smaller set of destinations.

The precedence relationship effectively decomposes less specific
routes into two parts:

* a set of destinations described only by the less specific route,
and

* a set of destinations described by the overlap of the less
specific and the more specific routes

The set of destinations described by the overlap represents a portion
of the less specific route that is feasible, but is not currently in
use. If a more specific route is later withdrawn, the set of
destinations described by the overlap will still be reachable using
the less specific route.

If a BGP speaker receives overlapping routes, the Decision Process
MUST consider both routes based on the configured acceptance policy.
If both a less and a more specific route are accepted, then the
Decision Process MUST install, in Loc-RIB, either both the less and
the more specific routes or aggregate the two routes and install, in
Loc-RIB, the aggregated route, provided that both routes have the
same value of the NEXT_HOP attribute.

If a BGP speaker chooses to aggregate, then it SHOULD either include
all ASes used to form the aggregate in an AS_SET, or add the
ATOMIC_AGGREGATE attribute to the route. This attribute is now
primarily informational. With the elimination of IP routing
protocols that do not support classless routing, and the elimination
of router and host implementations that do not support classless
routing, there is no longer a need to de-aggregate. Routes SHOULD
NOT be de-aggregated. In particular, a route that carries the
ATOMIC_AGGREGATE attribute MUST NOT be de-aggregated. That is, the
NLRI of this route cannot be more specific. Forwarding along such a
route does not guarantee that IP packets will actually traverse only
ASes listed in the AS_PATH attribute of the route.

9.2. Update-Send Process

The Update-Send process is responsible for advertising UPDATE
messages to all peers. It distributes the routes chosen by the
Decision Process to other BGP speakers, which may be located in
either the same autonomous system or a neighboring autonomous system.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 88]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

When a BGP speaker receives an UPDATE message from an internal peer,
the receiving BGP speaker SHALL NOT re-distribute the routing
information contained in that UPDATE message to other internal peers
(unless the speaker acts as a BGP Route Reflector [RFC4456]).

As part of Phase 3 of the route selection process, the BGP speaker
has updated its Adj-RIBs-Out. All newly installed routes and all
newly unfeasible routes for which there is no replacement route SHALL
be advertised to its peers by means of one or more UPDATE messages.

A BGP speaker SHOULD NOT advertise a given feasible BGP route from
its Adj-RIB-Out if it would produce an UPDATE message containing the
same BGP route as was previously advertised.

Any routes in the Loc-RIB marked as unfeasible SHALL be removed.
Changes to the reachable destinations within its own autonomous
system SHALL also be advertised in an UPDATE message.

If, due to the limits on the maximum size of an UPDATE message (see
Section 4), a single route doesn't fit into the message, the BGP
speaker MUST NOT advertise the route to its peers and MAY choose to
log an error locally. If a route for the affected destination has
previously been advertised, that route MUST be withdrawn.

9.2.1. Controlling Routing Traffic Overhead

The BGP protocol constrains the amount of routing traffic (that is,
UPDATE messages), in order to limit both the link bandwidth needed to
advertise UPDATE messages and the processing power needed by the
Decision Process to digest the information contained in the UPDATE
messages.

9.2.1.1. Frequency of Route Advertisement

The parameter MinRouteAdvertisementIntervalTimer determines the
minimum amount of time that must elapse between an advertisement and/
or withdrawal of routes to a particular destination by a BGP speaker
to a peer. This rate limiting procedure applies on a per-
destination basis, although the value of
MinRouteAdvertisementIntervalTimer is set on a per BGP peer basis.

Two UPDATE messages sent by a BGP speaker to a peer that advertise
feasible routes and/or withdrawal of unfeasible routes to some common
set of destinations MUST be separated by at least
MinRouteAdvertisementIntervalTimer. An implementation MUST also
provide an upper bound on the interval.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 89]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

Since fast convergence is needed within an autonomous system, either
(a) the MinRouteAdvertisementIntervalTimer used for internal peers
SHOULD be shorter than the MinRouteAdvertisementIntervalTimer used
for external peers, or (b) the procedure described in this section
SHOULD NOT apply to routes sent to internal peers.

This procedure does not limit the rate of route selection, but only
the rate of route advertisement. If new routes are selected multiple
times while awaiting the expiration of
MinRouteAdvertisementIntervalTimer, the last route selected SHALL be
advertised at the end of MinRouteAdvertisementIntervalTimer, and the
intermediate selections SHALL NOT be advertised.

9.2.1.2. Frequency of Route Origination

The parameter MinASOriginationIntervalTimer determines the minimum
amount of time that must elapse between successive advertisements of
UPDATE messages that report changes within the advertising BGP
speaker's own autonomous systems.

9.2.2. Efficient Organization of Routing Information

Having selected the routing information it will advertise, a BGP
speaker may avail itself of several methods to organize this
information in an efficient manner.

9.2.2.1. Information Reduction

Information reduction may imply a reduction in granularity of policy
control - after information is collapsed, the same policies will
apply to all destinations and paths in the equivalence class.

The Decision Process may optionally reduce the amount of information
that it will place in the Adj-RIBs-Out as follows:

a) Network Layer Reachability Information (NLRI): Destination IP
addresses can be represented as IP address prefixes. In cases
where there is a correspondence between the address structure and
the systems under control of an autonomous system administrator,
it will be possible to reduce the size of the NLRI carried in the
UPDATE messages.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 90]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

9.2.2.2. Aggregating Routing Information

Aggregation is the process of combining the characteristics of
several different routes in such a way that a single route can be
advertised. Aggregation can occur as part of the Decision Process to
reduce the amount of routing information that will be placed in the
Adj-RIBs-Out.

Aggregation reduces the amount of information that a BGP speaker must
store and exchange with other BGP speakers. Routes can be aggregated
by applying the following procedure, separately, to path attributes
of the same type and to the Network Layer Reachability Information.

Routes that have different MULTI_EXIT_DISC attributes SHALL NOT be
aggregated.

If the aggregated route has an AS_SET as the first element in its
AS_PATH attribute, then the router that originates the route SHOULD
NOT advertise the MULTI_EXIT_DISC attribute with this route.

Path attributes that have different type codes cannot be aggregated
together. Path attributes of the same type code may be aggregated,
according to the following rules:

NEXT_HOP: When aggregating routes that have different NEXT_HOP
attributes, the NEXT_HOP attribute of the aggregated route SHALL
identify an interface on the BGP speaker that performs the
aggregation.

ORIGIN attribute: If at least one route among routes that are
aggregated has ORIGIN with the value INCOMPLETE, then the
aggregated route MUST have the ORIGIN attribute with the value
INCOMPLETE. Otherwise, if at least one route among routes that
are aggregated has ORIGIN with the value EGP, then the aggregated
route MUST have the ORIGIN attribute with the value EGP. In all
other cases, the value of the ORIGIN attribute of the aggregated
route is IGP.

AS_PATH attribute: If routes to be aggregated have identical AS_PATH
attributes, then the aggregated route has the same AS_PATH
attribute as each individual route.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 91]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

For the purpose of aggregating AS_PATH attributes, we model each
AS within the AS_PATH attribute as a tuple <type, value>, where
"type" identifies a type of the path segment the AS belongs to
(e.g., AS_SEQUENCE, AS_SET), and "value" identifies the AS number.
If the routes to be aggregated have different AS_PATH attributes,
then the aggregated AS_PATH attribute SHALL satisfy all of the
following conditions:

* all tuples of type AS_SEQUENCE in the aggregated AS_PATH SHALL
appear in all of the AS_PATHs in the initial set of routes to
be aggregated.

* all tuples of type AS_SET in the aggregated AS_PATH SHALL
appear in at least one of the AS_PATHs in the initial set (they
may appear as either AS_SET or AS_SEQUENCE types).

* for any tuple X of type AS_SEQUENCE in the aggregated AS_PATH,
which precedes tuple Y in the aggregated AS_PATH, X precedes Y
in each AS_PATH in the initial set, which contains Y,
regardless of the type of Y.

* No tuple of type AS_SET with the same value SHALL appear more
than once in the aggregated AS_PATH.

* Multiple tuples of type AS_SEQUENCE with the same value may
appear in the aggregated AS_PATH only when adjacent to another
tuple of the same type and value.

An implementation may choose any algorithm that conforms to these
rules. At a minimum, a conformant implementation SHALL be able to
perform the following algorithm that meets all of the above
conditions:

* determine the longest leading sequence of tuples (as defined
above) common to all the AS_PATH attributes of the routes to be
aggregated. Make this sequence the leading sequence of the
aggregated AS_PATH attribute.

* set the type of the rest of the tuples from the AS_PATH
attributes of the routes to be aggregated to AS_SET, and append
them to the aggregated AS_PATH attribute.

* if the aggregated AS_PATH has more than one tuple with the same
value (regardless of tuple's type), eliminate all but one such
tuple by deleting tuples of the type AS_SET from the aggregated
AS_PATH attribute.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 92]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* for each pair of adjacent tuples in the aggregated AS_PATH, if
both tuples have the same type, merge them together, as long as
doing so will not cause a segment with a length greater than
255 to be generated.

ATOMIC_AGGREGATE: If at least one of the routes to be aggregated has
ATOMIC_AGGREGATE path attribute, then the aggregated route SHALL
have this attribute as well.

AGGREGATOR: Any AGGREGATOR attributes from the routes to be
aggregated MUST NOT be included in the aggregated route. The BGP
speaker performing the route aggregation MAY attach a new
AGGREGATOR attribute (see Section 5.1.7).

9.3. Route Selection Criteria

Generally, additional rules for comparing routes among several
alternatives are outside the scope of this document. There are two
exceptions:

* If the local AS appears in the AS path of the new route being
considered, then that new route cannot be viewed as better than
any other route (provided that the speaker is configured to accept
such routes). If such a route were ever used, a routing loop
could result.

* In order to achieve a successful distributed operation, only
routes with a likelihood of stability can be chosen. Thus, an AS
SHOULD avoid using unstable routes, and it SHOULD NOT make rapid,
spontaneous changes to its choice of route. Quantifying the terms
"unstable" and "rapid" (from the previous sentence) will require
experience, but the principle is clear. Routes that are unstable
can be "penalized" (e.g., by using the procedures described in
[RFC2439]).

9.4. Originating BGP routes

A BGP speaker may originate BGP routes by injecting routing
information acquired by some other means (e.g., via an IGP) into BGP.
A BGP speaker that originates BGP routes assigns the degree of
preference (e.g., according to local configuration) to these routes
by passing them through the Decision Process (see Section 9.1).
These routes MAY also be distributed to other BGP speakers within the
local AS as part of the update process (see Section 9.2). The
decision of whether to distribute non-BGP acquired routes within an
AS via BGP depends on the environment within the AS (e.g., type of
IGP) and SHOULD be controlled via configuration.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 93]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

10. BGP Timers

BGP employs five timers: ConnectRetryTimer (see Section 8), HoldTimer
(see Section 4.2), KeepaliveTimer (see Section 8),
MinASOriginationIntervalTimer (see Section 9.2.1.2), and
MinRouteAdvertisementIntervalTimer (see Section 9.2.1.1).

Three optional timers MAY be supported: DelayOpenTimer, IdleHoldTimer
and SendHoldTimer (see Section 8). Section 8 describes their use.

ConnectRetryTime is a mandatory FSM attribute that stores the initial
value for the ConnectRetryTimer. The suggested default value for the
ConnectRetryTime is 120 seconds.

HoldTime is a mandatory FSM attribute that stores the initial value
for the HoldTimer. The suggested default value for the HoldTime is
90 seconds.

During some portions of the state machine (see Section 8), the
HoldTimer is set to a large value. The suggested default for this
large value is 4 minutes.

SendHoldTime is an FSM attribute that stores the initial value for
the SendHoldTimer. If SendHoldTime is non-zero, then it MUST be
greater than the value of HoldTime. The default value of
SendHoldTime SHOULD be the greater of:

* 8 minutes or

* 2 times the negotiated HoldTime

The KeepaliveTime is a mandatory FSM attribute that stores the
initial value for the KeepaliveTimer. The suggested default value
for the KeepaliveTime is 1/3 of the HoldTime.

The suggested default value for the MinASOriginationIntervalTimer is
15 seconds.

The suggested default value for the
MinRouteAdvertisementIntervalTimer on EBGP connections is 30 seconds.

The suggested default value for the
MinRouteAdvertisementIntervalTimer on IBGP connections is 5 seconds.

An implementation of BGP MUST allow the HoldTimer to be configurable
on a per-peer basis, and MAY allow the other timers to be
configurable.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 94]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

To minimize the likelihood that the distribution of BGP messages by a
given BGP speaker will contain peaks, jitter SHOULD be applied to the
timers associated with MinASOriginationIntervalTimer, KeepaliveTimer,
MinRouteAdvertisementIntervalTimer, and ConnectRetryTimer. A given
BGP speaker MAY apply the same jitter to each of these quantities,
regardless of the destinations to which the updates are being sent;
that is, jitter need not be configured on a per-peer basis.

The suggested default amount of jitter SHALL be determined by
multiplying the base value of the appropriate timer by a random
factor, which is uniformly distributed in the range from 0.75 to 1.0.
A new random value SHOULD be picked each time the timer is set. The
range of the jitter's random value MAY be configurable.

11. References

11.1. Normative References

[RFC791] Postel, J., "Internet Protocol", STD 5, RFC 791,
DOI 10.17487/RFC0791, September 1981,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc791>.

[RFC793] Postel, J., "Transmission Control Protocol", RFC 793,
DOI 10.17487/RFC0793, September 1981,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc793>.

[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119>.

[RFC2385] Heffernan, A., "Protection of BGP Sessions via the TCP MD5
Signature Option", RFC 2385, DOI 10.17487/RFC2385, August
1998, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2385>.

[RFC8126] Cotton, M., Leiba, B., and T. Narten, "Guidelines for
Writing an IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26,
RFC 8126, DOI 10.17487/RFC8126, June 2017,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8126>.

[RFC8174] Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8174>.

11.2. Informative References

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 95]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

[I-D.ietf-idr-bgp-issues]
Lange, A., "Issues in Revising BGP-4 (RFC1771 to
RFC4271)", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-
idr-bgp-issues-06, 27 March 2012,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-idr-bgp-
issues-06>.

[IS10747] ISO/IEC IS10747, "Information Processing Systems -
Telecommunications and Information Exchange between
Systems - Protocol for Exchange of Inter-domain Routeing
Information among Intermediate Systems to Support
Forwarding of ISO 8473 PDUs", 1993.

[RFC904] Mills, D., "Exterior Gateway Protocol formal
specification", RFC 904, DOI 10.17487/RFC0904, April 1984,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc904>.

[RFC1092] Rekhter, J., "EGP and policy based routing in the new
NSFNET backbone", RFC 1092, DOI 10.17487/RFC1092, February
1989, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1092>.

[RFC1093] Braun, H., "NSFNET routing architecture", RFC 1093,
DOI 10.17487/RFC1093, February 1989,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1093>.

[RFC1267] Lougheed, K. and Y. Rekhter, "Border Gateway Protocol 3
(BGP-3)", RFC 1267, DOI 10.17487/RFC1267, October 1991,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1267>.

[RFC1518] Rekhter, Y. and T. Li, "An Architecture for IP Address
Allocation with CIDR", RFC 1518, DOI 10.17487/RFC1518,
September 1993, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1518>.

[RFC1519] Fuller, V., Li, T., Yu, J., and K. Varadhan, "Classless
Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR): an Address Assignment and
Aggregation Strategy", RFC 1519, DOI 10.17487/RFC1519,
September 1993, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1519>.

[RFC1771] Rekhter, Y. and T. Li, "A Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-
4)", RFC 1771, DOI 10.17487/RFC1771, March 1995,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1771>.

[RFC1772] Rekhter, Y. and P. Gross, "Application of the Border
Gateway Protocol in the Internet", RFC 1772,
DOI 10.17487/RFC1772, March 1995,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1772>.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 96]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

[RFC1930] Hawkinson, J. and T. Bates, "Guidelines for creation,
selection, and registration of an Autonomous System (AS)",
BCP 6, RFC 1930, DOI 10.17487/RFC1930, March 1996,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1930>.

[RFC1997] Chandra, R., Traina, P., and T. Li, "BGP Communities
Attribute", RFC 1997, DOI 10.17487/RFC1997, August 1996,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1997>.

[RFC2439] Villamizar, C., Chandra, R., and R. Govindan, "BGP Route
Flap Damping", RFC 2439, DOI 10.17487/RFC2439, November
1998, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2439>.

[RFC2474] Nichols, K., Blake, S., Baker, F., and D. Black,
"Definition of the Differentiated Services Field (DS
Field) in the IPv4 and IPv6 Headers", RFC 2474,
DOI 10.17487/RFC2474, December 1998,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2474>.

[RFC2858] Bates, T., Rekhter, Y., Chandra, R., and D. Katz,
"Multiprotocol Extensions for BGP-4", RFC 2858,
DOI 10.17487/RFC2858, June 2000,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2858>.

[RFC2918] Chen, E., "Route Refresh Capability for BGP-4", RFC 2918,
DOI 10.17487/RFC2918, September 2000,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2918>.

[RFC3392] Chandra, R. and J. Scudder, "Capabilities Advertisement
with BGP-4", RFC 3392, DOI 10.17487/RFC3392, November
2002, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3392>.

[RFC3562] Leech, M., "Key Management Considerations for the TCP MD5
Signature Option", RFC 3562, DOI 10.17487/RFC3562, July
2003, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3562>.

[RFC4271] Rekhter, Y., Ed., Li, T., Ed., and S. Hares, Ed., "A
Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4)", RFC 4271,
DOI 10.17487/RFC4271, January 2006,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4271>.

[RFC4272] Murphy, S., "BGP Security Vulnerabilities Analysis",
RFC 4272, DOI 10.17487/RFC4272, January 2006,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4272>.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 97]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

[RFC4456] Bates, T., Chen, E., and R. Chandra, "BGP Route
Reflection: An Alternative to Full Mesh Internal BGP
(IBGP)", RFC 4456, DOI 10.17487/RFC4456, April 2006,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4456>.

[RFC4760] Bates, T., Chandra, R., Katz, D., and Y. Rekhter,
"Multiprotocol Extensions for BGP-4", RFC 4760,
DOI 10.17487/RFC4760, January 2007,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4760>.

[RFC5004] Chen, E. and S. Sangli, "Avoid BGP Best Path Transitions
from One External to Another", RFC 5004,
DOI 10.17487/RFC5004, September 2007,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5004>.

[RFC5065] Traina, P., McPherson, D., and J. Scudder, "Autonomous
System Confederations for BGP", RFC 5065,
DOI 10.17487/RFC5065, August 2007,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5065>.

[RFC7705] George, W. and S. Amante, "Autonomous System Migration
Mechanisms and Their Effects on the BGP AS_PATH
Attribute", RFC 7705, DOI 10.17487/RFC7705, November 2015,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7705>.

[RFC7964] Walton, D., Retana, A., Chen, E., and J. Scudder,
"Solutions for BGP Persistent Route Oscillation",
RFC 7964, DOI 10.17487/RFC7964, September 2016,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7964>.

[RFC8212] Mauch, J., Snijders, J., and G. Hankins, "Default External
BGP (EBGP) Route Propagation Behavior without Policies",
RFC 8212, DOI 10.17487/RFC8212, July 2017,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8212>.

[RFC9687] Snijders, J., Cartwright-Cox, B., and Y. Qu, "Border
Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4) Send Hold Timer", RFC 9687,
DOI 10.17487/RFC9687, November 2024,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9687>.

Appendix A. Acknowledgements

This document is closely based on RFC 4271.

(Further acknowledgements to be supplied.)

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 98]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

A.1. Acknowledgements Section of RFC 4271

RFC 4271 contained the following acknowledgements:

This document was originally published as [RFC1267] in October 1991,
jointly authored by Kirk Lougheed and Yakov Rekhter.

We would like to express our thanks to Guy Almes, Len Bosack, and
Jeffrey C. Honig for their contributions to the earlier version
(BGP-1) of this document.

We would like to specially acknowledge numerous contributions by
Dennis Ferguson to the earlier version of this document.

We would like to explicitly thank Bob Braden for the review of the
earlier version (BGP-2) of this document, and for his constructive
and valuable comments.

We would also like to thank Bob Hinden, Director for Routing of the
Internet Engineering Steering Group, and the team of reviewers he
assembled to review the earlier version (BGP-2) of this document.
This team, consisting of Deborah Estrin, Milo Medin, John Moy, Radia
Perlman, Martha Steenstrup, Mike St. Johns, and Paul Tsuchiya, acted
with a strong combination of toughness, professionalism, and
courtesy.

Certain sections of the document borrowed heavily from IDRP
[IS10747], which is the OSI counterpart of BGP. For this, credit
should be given to the ANSI X3S3.3 group chaired by Lyman Chapin and
to Charles Kunzinger, who was the IDRP editor within that group.

We would also like to thank Benjamin Abarbanel, Enke Chen, Edward
Crabbe, Mike Craren, Vincent Gillet, Eric Gray, Jeffrey Haas, Dimitry
Haskin, Stephen Kent, John Krawczyk, David LeRoy, Dan Massey,
Jonathan Natale, Dan Pei, Mathew Richardson, John Scudder, John
Stewart III, Dave Thaler, Paul Traina, Russ White, Curtis Villamizar,
and Alex Zinin for their comments.

We would like to specially acknowledge Andrew Lange for his help in
preparing the final version of this document.

Finally, we would like to thank all the members of the IDR Working
Group for their ideas and the support they have given to this
document.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 99]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

A.2. Acknowledgements in relationship to RFC 8212

[RFC8212] was authored by Jared Mauch, Job Snijders, and Greg
Hankins. Its content were subsumed in this document.

RFC 8212 contained the following acknowledgements:

The following people contributed to successful deployment of the
solution described in RFC8212: Jakob Heitz & Ondrej Filip.

The authors would like to thank the following people for their
comments, support and review: Shane Amante, Christopher Morrow,
Robert Raszuk, Greg Skinner, Adam Chappell, Sriram Kotikalapudi,
Brian Dickson, Jeffrey Haas, John Heasley, Ignas Bagdonas, Donald
Smith, Alvaro Retana, John Scudder, and Dale Worley.

A.3. Acknowledgements in relationship to RFC 9687

[RFC9687] was authored by Job Snijders, Ben Cartwright-Cox, and
Yingzhen Qu. Its content were subsumed in this document.

RFC 9687 contained the following acknowledgements:

The authors would like to thank William McCall, Theo de Raadt, John
Heasley, Nick Hilliard, Jeffrey Haas, Tom Petch, Susan Hares, Keyur
Patel, Ben Maddison, Claudio Jeker, and John Scudder for their
helpful review of this document.

Appendix B. Comparison of CURRENT_SPEC with RFC 4271

This section describes significant technical changes between the
present specification and RFC 4271. In addition, RFC 4271 contains a
comparison between that specification and older BGP specifications.
Readers interested in details about the evolution of RFC 4271 should
also consider consulting [I-D.ietf-idr-bgp-issues], which "records
the issues discussed and the consensus reached" during development.

Verson 01:

* Integrated RFC 6286, "Autonomous-System-Wide Unique BGP Identifier
for BGP-4". (Issue #16)

* Integrated RFC 6608, "Subcodes for BGP Finite State Machine
Error". (Issue #17)

* Address IANA review comments related to IANA Considerations
section. (Issue #54)

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 100]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

* Say "session attribute" in FSM section, to disambiguate from path
attribute. (Issue #56)

* Created a "roadmap" section, which replaces the "placeholder"
section. The roadmap section is a work in progress, but there's
something there now, at least. (Issue #58, still in progress)

* Removed the requirement that Partial must be set if an attribute
is added to a route in flight. This was found to not be
universally implemented in practice, and its removal poses no
interoperability concerns. (Issue #83)

* Tighten up "no cost can be determined" rule in tie-breakers.
(Issue #90)

* Removed a bullet from "information reduction" subsection that
related to use of AS_SETs. (Issue #95, partial, issue remains
open)

* Add an informative reference to I-D.ietf-idr-bgp-issues. (Issue
#101)

* Mandate that ORIGIN values 3-255 must never be sent. RFC 7606
already says what to do if they are received (treat-as-withdraw).
(Issue #102)

* Add IANA registry for AS_PATH segment types. (Issue #103)

* Clarify that detection of an AS loop is a semantic error, not a
syntax error in the AS_PATH, despite use of an error code that
includes the word "malformed". (Issue #110)

* Remove mentions of RFC 4020 from IANA section. (Issue #114)

* Clarify apparent (but not actual) bad cross-reference in
Administrative Events section. The old text said "section" where
it really meant "field". Cleaned up the surrounding words a bit,
too. (Issue #118)

Appendix C. TCP Options that May Be Used with BGP

If a local system TCP user interface supports the TCP PUSH function,
then each BGP message SHOULD be transmitted with PUSH flag set.
Setting PUSH flag forces BGP messages to be transmitted to the
receiver promptly.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 101]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

If a local system TCP user interface supports setting the DSCP field
[RFC2474] for TCP connections, then the TCP connection used by BGP
SHOULD be opened with bits 0-2 of the DSCP field set to 110 (binary).

An implementation MUST support the TCP MD5 option [RFC2385].

Appendix D. Security Considerations

A BGP implementation MUST support the authentication mechanism
specified in RFC 2385 [RFC2385]. The authentication provided by this
mechanism could be done on a per-peer basis.

BGP makes use of TCP for reliable transport of its traffic between
peer routers. To provide connection-oriented integrity and data
origin authentication on a point-to-point basis, BGP specifies use of
the mechanism defined in RFC 2385. These services are intended to
detect and reject active wiretapping attacks against the inter-router
TCP connections. Absent the use of mechanisms that effect these
security services, attackers can disrupt these TCP connections and/or
masquerade as a legitimate peer router. Because the mechanism
defined in the RFC does not provide peer-entity authentication, these
connections may be subject to some forms of replay attacks that will
not be detected at the TCP layer. Such attacks might result in
delivery (from TCP) of "broken" or "spoofed" BGP messages.

The mechanism defined in RFC 2385 augments the normal TCP checksum
with a 16-byte message authentication code (MAC) that is computed
over the same data as the TCP checksum. This MAC is based on a one-
way hash function (MD5) and use of a secret key. The key is shared
between peer routers and is used to generate MAC values that are not
readily computed by an attacker who does not have access to the key.
A compliant implementation must support this mechanism, and must
allow a network administrator to activate it on a per-peer basis.

RFC 2385 does not specify a means of managing (e.g., generating,
distributing, and replacing) the keys used to compute the MAC. RFC
3562 [RFC3562] (an informational document) provides some guidance in
this area, and provides rationale to support this guidance. It notes
that a distinct key should be used for communication with each
protected peer. If the same key is used for multiple peers, the
offered security services may be degraded, e.g., due to an increased
risk of compromise at one router that adversely affects other
routers.

The keys used for MAC computation should be changed periodically, to
minimize the impact of a key compromise or successful cryptanalytic
attack. RFC 3562 suggests a crypto period (the interval during which
a key is employed) of, at most, 90 days. More frequent key changes

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 102]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

reduce the likelihood that replay attacks (as described above) will
be feasible. However, absent a standard mechanism for effecting such
changes in a coordinated fashion between peers, one cannot assume
that BGP-4 implementations complying with this RFC will support
frequent key changes.

Obviously, each should key also be chosen to be difficult for an
attacker to guess. The techniques specified in RFC 1750 for random
number generation provide a guide for generation of values that could
be used as keys. RFC 2385 calls for implementations to support keys
"composed of a string of printable ASCII of 80 bytes or less." RFC
3562 suggests keys used in this context be 12 to 24 bytes of random
(pseudo-random) bits. This is fairly consistent with suggestions for
analogous MAC algorithms, which typically employ keys in the range of
16 to 20 bytes. To provide enough random bits at the low end of this
range, RFC 3562 also observes that a typical ACSII text string would
have to be close to the upper bound for the key length specified in
RFC 2385.

BGP vulnerabilities analysis is discussed in [RFC4272].

Appendix E. IANA Considerations

E.1. Path Attribute Flags

IANA is requested to create a registry called "BGP Path Attribute
Flags" within the "Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Parameters" group.
The allocation policy is Standards Action.

Bits 0-3 are defined in Section 4.3. Bit 4, marked deprecated, was
proposed in draft-ietf-idr-optional-transitive-02 and later removed
in draft-ietf-idr-optional-transitive-04, but not before at least one
known implementation had shipped. At the time of writing, it is not
considered safe to assign.

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 103]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

+==============+=================+=================+
| Bit Position | Name | Reference |
+==============+=================+=================+
| 0 | Optional | (this document) |
+--------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1 | Transitive | (this document) |
+--------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2 | Partial | (this document) |
+--------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 3 | Extended Length | (this document) |
+--------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 4 | Deprecated | (this document) |
+--------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 5-7 | Unassigned | |
+--------------+-----------------+-----------------+

Table 9

E.2. Message Types

All the BGP messages contain an 8-bit message type, for which IANA
has created and is maintaining a registry entitled "BGP Message
Types". IANA is requested to update its reference to this document.
This document defines the following message types:

+==============+=======+=================+
| Name | Value | Definition |
+==============+=======+=================+
| OPEN | 1 | See Section 4.2 |
+--------------+-------+-----------------+
| UPDATE | 2 | See Section 4.3 |
+--------------+-------+-----------------+
| NOTIFICATION | 3 | See Section 4.5 |
+--------------+-------+-----------------+
| KEEPALIVE | 4 | See Section 4.4 |
+--------------+-------+-----------------+

Table 10

Future assignments are to be made using the Standards Action process
defined in [RFC8126]. Assignments consist of a name and the value.

E.3. Path Attribute Types

The BGP UPDATE messages may carry one or more Path Attributes, where
each Attribute contains an 8-bit Attribute Type Code. IANA is
already maintaining such a registry, entitled "BGP Path Attributes".
This document defines the following Path Attributes Type Codes:

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 104]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

+==================+=======+===================+
| Name | Value | Definition |
+==================+=======+===================+
| ORIGIN | 1 | See Section 5.1.1 |
+------------------+-------+-------------------+
| AS_PATH | 2 | See Section 5.1.2 |
+------------------+-------+-------------------+
| NEXT_HOP | 3 | See Section 5.1.3 |
+------------------+-------+-------------------+
| MULTI_EXIT_DISC | 4 | See Section 5.1.4 |
+------------------+-------+-------------------+
| LOCAL_PREF | 5 | See Section 5.1.5 |
+------------------+-------+-------------------+
| ATOMIC_AGGREGATE | 6 | See Section 5.1.6 |
+------------------+-------+-------------------+
| AGGREGATOR | 7 | See Section 5.1.7 |
+------------------+-------+-------------------+

Table 11

Future assignments are to be made using the Standards Action process
defined in [RFC8126]. Assignments consist of a name and the value.

E.4. Error Codes

The BGP NOTIFICATION message carries an 8-bit Error Code, for which
IANA has created and is maintaining a registry entitled "BGP Error
(Notification) Codes". This document defines the following Error
Codes:

+============================+=======+=============+
| Name | Value | Definition |
+============================+=======+=============+
| Message Header Error | 1 | Section 6.1 |
+----------------------------+-------+-------------+
| OPEN Message Error | 2 | Section 6.2 |
+----------------------------+-------+-------------+
| UPDATE Message Error | 3 | Section 6.3 |
+----------------------------+-------+-------------+
| Hold Timer Expired | 4 | Section 6.5 |
+----------------------------+-------+-------------+
| Finite State Machine Error | 5 | Section 6.7 |
+----------------------------+-------+-------------+
| Cease | 6 | Section 6.8 |
+----------------------------+-------+-------------+

Table 12

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 105]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

Future assignments are to be made using the Standards Action process
defined in [RFC8126]. Assignments consist of a name and the value.

E.5. Error Subcodes

The BGP NOTIFICATION message carries an 8-bit Error Subcode, where
each Subcode has to be defined within the context of a particular
Error Code, and thus has to be unique only within that context.

IANA has created and is maintaining a set of registries, "BGP Error
Subcodes", with a separate registry for each BGP Error Code. Future
assignments are to be made using the Standards Action process defined
in [RFC8126]. Assignments consist of a name and the value.

IANA maintains a subregistry below the BGP Error Subcodes registry
called "Message Header Error subcodes". IANA is requested to rename
this subregistry "BGP Message Header Error subcodes". This document
defines the following BGP Message Header Error subcodes:

+=============================+=======+=================+
| Name | Value | Definition |
+=============================+=======+=================+
| Unspecific | 0 | See Section 6.1 |
+-----------------------------+-------+-----------------+
| Connection Not Synchronized | 1 | See Section 6.1 |
+-----------------------------+-------+-----------------+
| Bad Message Length | 2 | See Section 6.1 |
+-----------------------------+-------+-----------------+
| Bad Message Type | 3 | See Section 6.1 |
+-----------------------------+-------+-----------------+

Table 13

IANA maintains a subregistry below the BGP Error Subcodes registry
called "OPEN Message Error subcodes". IANA is requested to rename
this subregistry "BGP OPEN Message Error subcodes". This document
defines the following OPEN Message Error subcodes:

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 106]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

+================================+=======+==========================+
| Name | Value | Definition |
+================================+=======+==========================+
| Unspecific | 0 | See Section 6.2 |
+--------------------------------+-------+--------------------------+
| Unsupported Version Number | 1 | See Section 6.2 |
+--------------------------------+-------+--------------------------+
| Bad Peer AS | 2 | See Section 6.2 |
+--------------------------------+-------+--------------------------+
| Bad BGP Identifier | 3 | See Section 6.2 |
+--------------------------------+-------+--------------------------+
| Unsupported Optional Parameter | 4 | See Section 6.2 |
+--------------------------------+-------+--------------------------+
| [Deprecated] | 5 | See [RFC4271] |
| | | Appendix A |
+--------------------------------+-------+--------------------------+
| Unacceptable Hold Time | 6 | See Section 6.2 |
+--------------------------------+-------+--------------------------+

Table 14

IANA maintains a subregistry below the BGP Error Subcodes registry
called "UPDATE Message Error subcodes". IANA is requested to rename
this subregistry "BGP UPDATE Message Error subcodes". This document
defines the following UPDATE Message Error subcodes:

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 107]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

+===================================+=======+=================+
| Name | Value | Definition |
+===================================+=======+=================+
| Unspecific | 0 | See Section 6.3 |
+-----------------------------------+-------+-----------------+
| Malformed Attribute List | 1 | See Section 6.3 |
+-----------------------------------+-------+-----------------+
| Unrecognized Well-known Attribute | 2 | See Section 6.3 |
+-----------------------------------+-------+-----------------+
| Missing Well-known Attribute | 3 | See Section 6.3 |
+-----------------------------------+-------+-----------------+
| Attribute Flags Error | 4 | See Section 6.3 |
+-----------------------------------+-------+-----------------+
| Attribute Length Error | 5 | See Section 6.3 |
+-----------------------------------+-------+-----------------+
| Invalid ORIGIN Attribute | 6 | See Section 6.3 |
+-----------------------------------+-------+-----------------+
| [Deprecated] | 7 | See [RFC4271] |
| | | Appendix A |
+-----------------------------------+-------+-----------------+
| Invalid NEXT_HOP Attribute | 8 | See Section 6.3 |
+-----------------------------------+-------+-----------------+
| Optional Attribute Error | 9 | See Section 6.3 |
+-----------------------------------+-------+-----------------+
| Invalid Network Field | 10 | See Section 6.3 |
+-----------------------------------+-------+-----------------+
| Malformed AS_PATH | 11 | See Section 6.3 |
+-----------------------------------+-------+-----------------+

Table 15

RFC 6608 created the registry "BGP Finite State Machine Error
Subcodes". IANA is requested to update the reference in that
registry (both overall, and individual code points) to this document.

E.6. AS_PATH Segment Types

IANA is requested to create a registry called "BGP AS_PATH Segment
Types" within the "Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Parameters" group.
The allocation policy is Standards Action.

Values 1 and 2 are defined in Table 2. The values 3 and 4, defined
in [RFC5065] are also included. (Note that it is not an error that
the order of SET and SEQUENCE are reversed between the respective
types.)

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 108]
Internet-Draft BGP-4 July 2026

+====================+=======+===============+
| Name | Value | Reference |
+====================+=======+===============+
| AS_SET | 1 | This Document |
+--------------------+-------+---------------+
| AS_SEQUENCE | 2 | This Document |
+--------------------+-------+---------------+
| AS_CONFED_SEQUENCE | 3 | [RFC5065] |
+--------------------+-------+---------------+
| AS_CONFED_SET | 4 | [RFC5065] |
+--------------------+-------+---------------+

Table 16

E.7. References to BGP Specification

IANA is requested to update all references to RFC4271 in the "Border
Gateway Protocol (BGP) Parameters" registry group to refer to this
document.

IANA is requested to replace all references to RFC 4271 in the IP
Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Entities registry group at
https://www.iana.org/assignments/ipfix with references to this
document.

Authors' Addresses

Yakov Rekhter
Retired
Email: yakov@juniper.net

Tony Li
HPE
Email: tony.li@tony.li

Susan Hares
Huawei
Email: skh@ndzh.com

John Scudder (editor)
HPE
Email: jgs@hpe.com

Rekhter, et al. Expires 7 January 2027 [Page 109]

A Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4) draft-ietf-idr-bgp4-rfc4271bis-01

A Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4)
draft-ietf-idr-bgp4-rfc4271bis-01