dhc Group B. Volz
Internet-Draft R. Droms
Intended status: Informational Cisco Systems, Inc.
Expires: August 8, 2009 February 4, 2009
DHCPv6 Server Reply Sequence Number Option
draft-ietf-dhc-dhcpv6-srsn-option-02.txt
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Abstract
This memo defines the Server Reply Sequence Number option for the
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6 (DHCPv6). This option
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is sent from a DHCPv6 server to a DHCPv6 relay agent to allow a relay
agent to detect proper sequencing of Relay-Reply messages that could
be delivered out of order.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. The Server Reply Sequence Number Option . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. DHCPv6 Relay Agent Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5. DHCPv6 Server Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
6. IANA considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
7. Security considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
8. Modification History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
9. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
9.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
9.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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1. Introduction
When a DHCPv6 server sends a Reply, there is no guarantee as to the
order of delivery of those datagrams sent by a server. A DHCPv6
client is protected against delivery of old Reply messages because of
the transaction-id in the message. However, a relay agent receiving
Relay-Reply messages and maintaining client state information (e.g.,
[I-D.ietf-dhc-dhcpv6-agentopt-delegate] has no such technique. Thus
a delayed earlier Relay-Reply may arrive after other Relay-Reply
messages. As an example, suppose a client sends a Request, the Reply
(encapsulated in a Relay-Reply) is delayed between server and relay
agent. The client retransmits the Request, the retransmitted Reply
is processed through the relay agent and then by the client. The
client next transacts a Release/Reply sequence, which causes the
relay agent to remove the client's state information when relaying
the Relay-Reply. However, now the delayed first Request's Reply
arrives at the relay agent; if the relay agent were to update the
client's state based on this out of order message (e.g.,
[I-D.ietf-dhc-dhcpv6-agentopt-delegate]), it would add client state
that is no longer valid. The Server Reply Sequence Number (SRSN)
option can be used to prevent this as the relay agent can detect and
discard out of order message.
To allow a relay agent to detect and discard out of order messages,
the relay agent requests the server to include a SRSN option in
Relay-Reply messages. The SRSN option contains a monotonically
increasing sequence number that the relay agent can use to re-
sequence (or discard) out of order Relay-Reply messages from the
server.
2. Terminology
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].
Additional terms used in the description of DHCPv6 and DHCPv6 prefix
delegation are defined in [RFC3315] and [RFC3633].
3. The Server Reply Sequence Number Option
The SRSN option is used by a server to indicate the order in which
the server has generated replies and therefore allows a relay agent
receiving Relay-Reply messages to determine the order in which those
Relay-Reply messages were originally sent. The Relay-Reply messages
are sent via UDP and, therefore, may be delivered out of order.
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The server's sequence number in the SRSN is a monotonically
increasing series. This property is maintained by the server even if
the server loses internal state; e.g., if the server is restarted.
The value of the sequence number in the SRSN option is not related to
the contents of any options in the Relay-Reply message; the existence
of this sequence number does not indicate that any data at the server
has necessarily changed.
The DHCPv6 Server Reply Sequence Number Option has the following
format:
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
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| option-code | length |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+ server-reply-sequence-number +
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
option-code OPTION_SRSN (TBD).
length 8.
server-reply-sequence-number
The 64-bit monotonically increasing server reply
sequence number.
4. DHCPv6 Relay Agent Behavior
If a relay agent requires the server to provide the SRSN option, it
MUST include an Option Request option, requesting the SRSN option, as
described in section 22.7 of [RFC3315].
A relay agent MUST save the received server-reply-sequence-number
(and the server's Server Identifier Option, OPTION_SERVERID) with any
client state information extracted from a Relay-Reply if it needs to
assure it does not use out of date information.
A relay agent that uses the SRSN option needs do the following when
maintaining client state information:
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1. Only update existing client state information if the received
server-reply-sequence-number (if from the same server) is greater
than the stored server-reply-sequence-number for the information;
the received server-reply-sequence-number and Server Identifier
must be stored with the client state information.
2. Delay removing expired client state information from its storage
for at least the maximum lifetime of a datagram. This assures
that any undelivered Relay-Reply datagrams will have expired and
been dropped from the network; and thus the server-reply-
sequence-number checking will prevent outdated information from
being used. A value of 2 minutes is the recommended value for
the maximum datagram lifetime, based on the maximum segment
lifetime used by the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
[RFC0793].
A change in the server-reply-sequence-number MUST NOT be used to
assume a client's state has changed, as a server may be
retransmitting the same information but with a different server-
reply-sequence-number.
5. DHCPv6 Server Behavior
If a relay agent has requested the SRSN option in an ORO, the server
SHOULD return the option with a monotonically increasing sequence
number. And, the server MUST also include a Server Identifier Option
(OPTION_SERVER_ID) in the Relay-Reply if it includes the SRSN option.
The server MUST monotonically increase the sequence number for any
Relay-Reply messages it transmits which include a SRSN option. A
server MAY increase the sequence number for each message it
transmits, even those that do not include a SRSN option.
One technique for a server to provide the monotonically increasing
sequence number is by splitting the 64-bit number into two 32-bit
values (minding network/host byte ordering) - a major (most
significant bits) and minor sequence number. When the server starts,
the major sequence number is set to the current time (in seconds
since Jan 1, 1970). The minor sequence number is set to 0 and only
it is incremented while the server is running (except if it rolls
over, in which case the major sequence number MUST be updated); there
is no need to commit the sequence number to stable storage.
6. IANA considerations
IANA is requested to assign an option code from the "DHCPv6 and
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DHCPv6 options" registry,
http://www.iana.org/assignments/dhcpv6-parameters, to OPTION_SRSN.
7. Security considerations
Security issues related to DHCP are described in [RFC3315] and
[RFC3633].
The DHCPv6 Server Reply Sequence Number option may be used to mount a
denial of service attack by causing a relay agent to incorrectly
record a very high server-reply-sequence-number and thus preventing
legitimate Relay-Reply messages from a server from being processed.
Communication between a server and a relay agent, and communication
between relay agents, can be secured through the use of IPSec, as
described in section 21.1 of [RFC3315].
8. Modification History
Changes in rev -02: None except boiler plate, version number, and
date.
Changes in rev -01 (to fix idnits):
o Revised terminology section to match recommended RFC 2119 syntax.
o Used new I-D boilerplate.
o Added this section.
9. References
9.1. Normative References
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[RFC3315] Droms, R., Bound, J., Volz, B., Lemon, T., Perkins, C.,
and M. Carney, "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for
IPv6 (DHCPv6)", RFC 3315, July 2003.
[RFC3633] Troan, O. and R. Droms, "IPv6 Prefix Options for Dynamic
Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) version 6", RFC 3633,
December 2003.
9.2. Informative References
[RFC0793] Postel, J., "Transmission Control Protocol", STD 7,
RFC 793, September 1981.
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[I-D.ietf-dhc-dhcpv6-agentopt-delegate]
Droms, R., "DHCPv6 Relay Agent Assignment Notification
(RAAN) Option", draft-ietf-dhc-dhcpv6-agentopt-delegate-02
(work in progress), November 2006.
Authors' Addresses
Bernie Volz
Cisco Systems, Inc.
1414 Massachusetts Avenue
Boxborough, MA 01719
USA
Phone: +1 978.936.0382
Email: volz@cisco.com
Ralph Droms
Cisco Systems, Inc.
1414 Massachusetts Avenue
Boxborough, MA 01719
USA
Phone: +1 978.936.1674
Email: rdroms@cisco.com
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