RFC 5533
Shim6: Level 3 Multihoming Shim Protocol for IPv6
Pages: 124
Proposed Standard
Proposed Standard
Part 3 of 5 – Pages 51 to 86
6. Conceptual Model of a Host
This section describes a conceptual model of one possible data structure organization that hosts will maintain for the purposes of Shim6. The described organization is provided to facilitate the explanation of how the Shim6 protocol should behave. This document does not mandate that implementations adhere to this model as long as their external behavior is consistent with that described in this document.6.1. Conceptual Data Structures
The key conceptual data structure for the Shim6 protocol is the ULID- pair context. This is a data structure that contains the following information: o The state of the context. See Section 6.2. o The peer ULID: ULID(peer). o The local ULID: ULID(local). o The Forked Instance Identifier: FII. This is zero for the default context, i.e., when there is no forking. o The list of peer locators with their preferences: Ls(peer). o The generation number for the most recently received, verified peer locator list. o For each peer locator, the verification method to use (from the Locator List option). o For each peer locator, a flag specifying whether it has been verified using HBA or CGA, and a bit specifying whether the locator has been probed to verify that the ULID is present at that location. o The current peer locator is the locator used as the destination address when sending packets: Lp(peer). o The set of local locators and the preferences: Ls(local). o The generation number for the most recently sent Locator List option. o The current local locator is the locator used as the source address when sending packets: Lp(local).
o The Context Tag used to transmit control messages and Shim6
Payload Extension headers; this is allocated by the peer:
CT(peer).
o The context to expect in received control messages and Shim6
Payload Extension headers; this is allocated by the local host:
CT(local).
o Timers for retransmission of the messages during context-
establishment and update messages.
o Depending how an implementation determines whether a context is
still in use, there might be a need to track the last time a
packet was sent/received using the context.
o Reachability state for the locator pairs as specified in [4].
o During pair exploration, information about the Probe messages that
have been sent and received as specified in [4].
o During context-establishment phase, the Initiator Nonce, Responder
Nonce, Responder Validator, and timers related to the different
packets sent (I1,I2, R2), as described in Section 7.
6.2. Context STATES
The STATES that are used to describe the Shim6 protocol are as
follows:
+---------------------+---------------------------------------------+ | STATE | Explanation | +---------------------+---------------------------------------------+ | IDLE | State machine start | | | | | I1-SENT | Initiating context-establishment exchange | | | | | I2-SENT | Waiting to complete context-establishment | | | exchange | | | | | I2BIS-SENT | Potential context loss detected | | | | | ESTABLISHED | SHIM context established | | | | | E-FAILED | Context-establishment exchange failed | | | | | NO-SUPPORT | ICMP Unrecognized Next Header type | | | (type 4, code 1) received, indicating | | | that Shim6 is not supported | +---------------------+---------------------------------------------+ In addition, in each of the aforementioned STATES, the following state information is stored:
+---------------------+---------------------------------------------+ | STATE | Information | +---------------------+---------------------------------------------+ | IDLE | None | | | | | I1-SENT | ULID(peer), ULID(local), [FII], CT(local), | | | INIT Nonce, Lp(local), Lp(peer), Ls(local) | | | | | I2-SENT | ULID(peer), ULID(local), [FII], CT(local), | | | INIT Nonce, RESP Nonce, Lp(local), Lp(peer),| | | Ls(local), Responder Validator | | | | | ESTABLISHED | ULID(peer), ULID(local), [FII], CT(local), | | | CT(peer), Lp(local), Lp(peer), Ls(local), | | | Ls(peer), INIT Nonce?(to receive late R2) | | | | | I2BIS-SENT | ULID(peer), ULID(local), [FII], CT(local), | | | CT(peer), Lp(local), Lp(peer), Ls(local), | | | Ls(peer), CT(R1bis), RESP Nonce, | | | INIT Nonce, Responder Validator | | | | | E-FAILED | ULID(peer), ULID(local) | | | | | NO-SUPPORT | ULID(peer), ULID(local) | +---------------------+---------------------------------------------+7. Establishing ULID-Pair Contexts
ULID-pair contexts are established using a 4-way exchange, which allows the responder to avoid creating state on the first packet. As part of this exchange, each end allocates a Context Tag and shares this Context Tag and its set of locators with the peer. In some cases, the 4-way exchange is not necessary -- for instance, when both ends try to set up the context at the same time, or when recovering from a context that has been garbage collected or lost at one of the hosts.7.1. Uniqueness of Context Tags
As part of establishing a new context, each host has to assign a unique Context Tag. Since the Shim6 Payload Extension headers are demultiplexed based solely on the Context Tag value (without using the locators), the Context Tag MUST be unique for each context.
It is important that Context Tags are hard to guess for off-path attackers. Therefore, if an implementation uses structure in the Context Tag to facilitate efficient lookups, at least 30 bits of the Context Tag MUST be unstructured and populated by random or pseudo- random bits. In addition, in order to minimize the reuse of Context Tags, the host SHOULD randomly cycle through the unstructured tag name space that is reserved for randomly assigned Context Tag values (e.g., following the guidelines described in [13]).7.2. Locator Verification
The peer's locators might need to be verified during context establishment as well as when handling locator updates in Section 10. There are two separate aspects of locator verification. One is to verify that the locator is tied to the ULID, i.e., that the host that "owns" the ULID is also the one that is claiming the locator "ownership". The Shim6 protocol uses the HBA or CGA techniques for doing this verification. The other aspect is to verify that the host is indeed reachable at the claimed locator. Such verification is needed not only to make sure communication can proceed but also to prevent 3rd party flooding attacks [15]. These different aspects of locator verification happen at different times since the first might need to be performed before packets can be received by the peer with the source locator in question, but the latter verification is only needed before packets are sent to the locator. Before a host can use a locator (different than the ULID) as the source locator, it must know that the peer will accept packets with that source locator as part of this context. Thus, the HBA/CGA verification SHOULD be performed by the host before the host acknowledges the new locator by sending either an Update Acknowledgement message or an R2 message. Before a host can use a locator (different than the ULID) as the destination locator, it MUST perform the HBA/CGA verification if this was not performed upon reception of the locator set. In addition, it MUST verify that the ULID is indeed present at that locator. This verification is performed by doing a return-routability test as part of the Probe sub-protocol [4]. If the verification method in the Locator List option is not supported by the host, or if the verification method is not consistent with the CGA Parameter Data Structure (e.g., the Parameter Data Structure doesn't contain the multiprefix extension and the verification method says to use HBA), then the host MUST ignore the
Locator List and the message in which it is contained. The host SHOULD generate a Shim6 Error message with Error Code=2 and with the Pointer referencing the octet in the verification method that was found inconsistent.7.3. Normal Context Establishment
The normal context establishment consists of a 4-message exchange in the order of I1, R1, I2, R2, as can be seen in Figure 3. Initiator Responder IDLE IDLE ------------- I1 --------------> I1-SENT <------------ R1 --------------- IDLE ------------- I2 --------------> I2-SENT <------------ R2 --------------- ESTABLISHED ESTABLISHED Figure 3: Normal Context Establishment7.4. Concurrent Context Establishment
When both ends try to initiate a context for the same ULID pair, then we might end up with crossing I1 messages. Alternatively, since no state is created when receiving the I1, a host might send an I1 after having sent an R1 message. Since a host remembers that it has sent an I1, it can respond to an I1 from the peer (for the same ULID pair) with an R2, resulting in the message exchange shown in Figure 4. Such behavior is needed for reasons such as correctly responding to retransmitted I1 messages, which occur when the R2 message has been lost.
Host A Host B IDLE IDLE -\ I1-SENT---\ ---\ /--- --- I1 ---\ /--- I1-SENT ---\ /--- I1 ---/ ---\ /--- --> <--- -\ I1-SENT---\ ---\ /--- --- R2 ---\ /--- I1-SENT ---\ /--- R2 ---/ ---\ /--- --> <--- ESTABLISHED ESTABLISHED Figure 4: Crossing I1 Messages If a host has received an I1 and sent an R1, it has no state to remember this. Thus, if the ULP on the host sends down packets, this might trigger the host to send an I1 message itself. Thus, while one end is sending an I1, the other is sending an I2, as can be seen in Figure 5.
Host A Host B IDLE IDLE -\ ---\ I1-SENT ---\ --- I1 ---\ ---\ ---\ --> /--- /--- IDLE --- /--- R1--/ /--- <--- -\ I2-SENT---\ ---\ /--- --- I2---\ /--- I1-SENT ---\ /--- I1 ---/ ---\ /--- --> <--- ESTABLISHED -\ I2-SENT---\ ---\ /--- --- R2 ---\ /--- ---\ /--- R2 ---/ ---\ /--- --> <--- ESTABLISHED ESTABLISHED Figure 5: Crossing I2 and I17.5. Context Recovery
Due to garbage collection, we can end up with one end having and using the context state, and the other end not having any state. We need to be able to recover this state at the end that has lost it before we can use it.
This need can arise in the following cases:
o The communication is working using the ULID pair as the locator
pair but a problem arises, and the end that has retained the
context state decides to probe alternate locator pairs.
o The communication is working using a locator pair that is not the
ULID pair; hence, the ULP packets sent from a peer that has
retained the context state use the Shim6 Payload Extension header.
o The host that retained the state sends a control message (e.g., an
Update Request message).
In all cases, the result is that the peer without state receives a
shim message for which it has no context for the Context Tag.
We can recover the context by having the node that doesn't have a
context state send back an R1bis message, and then complete the
recovery with an I2bis and R2 message, as can be seen in Figure 6.
Host A Host B
Context for
CT(peer)=X Discards context for
CT(local)=X
ESTABLISHED IDLE
---- payload, probe, etc. -----> No context state
for CT(local)=X
<------------ R1bis ------------
IDLE
------------- I2bis ----------->
I2BIS_SENT
<------------ R2 ---------------
ESTABLISHED ESTABLISHED
Figure 6: Context Loss at Receiver
If one end has garbage collected or lost the context state, it might
try to create a new context state (for the same ULID pair), by
sending an I1 message. In this case, the peer (that still has the
context state) will reply with an R1 message, and the full 4-way
exchange will be performed again, as can be seen in Figure 7.
Host A Host B Context for CT(peer)=X Discards context for ULIDs A1, B1 CT(local)=X ESTABLISHED IDLE Finds <------------ I1 --------------- Tries to set up existing for ULIDs A1, B1 context, but CT(peer) I1-SENT doesn't match ------------- R1 ---------------> Left old context in ESTABLISHED <------------ I2 --------------- Re-create context with new CT(peer) I2-SENT and Ls(peer). ESTABLISHED ------------- R2 --------------> ESTABLISHED ESTABLISHED Figure 7: Context Loss at Sender7.6. Context Confusion
Since each end might garbage collect the context state, we can have the case where one end has retained the context state and tries to use it, while the other end has lost the state. We discussed this in the previous section on recovery. But, for the same reasons, when one host retains Context Tag X as CT(peer) for ULID pair <A1, B1>, the other end might end up allocating that Context Tag as CT(local) for another ULID pair (e.g., <A3, B1>) between the same hosts. In this case, we cannot use the recovery mechanisms since there needs to be separate Context Tags for the two ULID pairs. This type of "confusion" can be observed in two cases (assuming it is A that has retained the state and B that has dropped it): o B decides to create a context for ULID pair <A3, B1>, allocates X as its Context Tag for this, and sends an I1 to A.
o A decides to create a context for ULID pair <A3, B1> and starts
the exchange by sending I1 to B. When B receives the I2 message,
it allocates X as the Context Tag for this context.
In both cases, A can detect that B has allocated X for ULID pair <A3,
B1> even though A still has X as CT(peer) for ULID pair <A1, B1>.
Thus, A can detect that B must have lost the context for <A1, B1>.
The confusion can be detected when I2/I2bis/R2 is received, since we
require that those messages MUST include a sufficiently large set of
locators in a Locator List option that the peer can determine whether
or not two contexts have the same host as the peer by comparing if
there is any common locators in Ls(peer).
The old context that used the Context Tag MUST be removed; it can no
longer be used to send packets. Thus, A would forcibly remove the
context state for <A1, B1, X> so that it can accept the new context
for <A3, B1, X>. An implementation MAY re-create a context to
replace the one that was removed -- in this case, for <A1, B1>. The
normal I1, R1, I2, R2 establishment exchange would then pick unique
Context Tags for that replacement context. This re-creation is
OPTIONAL, but might be useful when there is ULP communication that is
using the ULID pair whose context was removed.
Note that an I1 message with a duplicate Context Tag should not cause
the removal of the old context state; this operation needs to be
deferred until the reception of the I2 message.
7.7. Sending I1 Messages
When the shim layer decides to set up a context for a ULID pair, it
starts by allocating and initializing the context state for its end.
As part of this, it assigns a random Context Tag to the context that
is not being used as CT(local) by any other context . In the case
that a new API is used and the ULP requests a forked context, the
Forked Instance Identifier value will be set to a non-zero value.
Otherwise, the FII value is zero. Then the initiator can send an I1
message and set the context STATE to I1-SENT. The I1 message MUST
include the ULID pair -- normally, in the IPv6 Source and Destination
fields. But if the ULID pair for the context is not used as a
locator pair for the I1 message, then a ULID option MUST be included
in the I1 message. In addition, if a Forked Instance Identifier
value is non-zero, the I1 message MUST include a Context Instance
Identifier option containing the correspondent value.
7.8. Retransmitting I1 Messages
If the host does not receive an R1 or R2 message in response to the I1 message after I1_TIMEOUT time, then it needs to retransmit the I1 message. The retransmissions should use a retransmission timer with binary exponential backoff to avoid creating congestion issues for the network when lots of hosts perform I1 retransmissions. Also, the actual timeout value should be randomized between 0.5 and 1.5 of the nominal value to avoid self-synchronization. If, after I1_RETRIES_MAX retransmissions, there is no response, then most likely the peer does not implement the Shim6 protocol (or there could be a firewall that blocks the protocol). In this case, it makes sense for the host to remember not to try again to establish a context with that ULID. However, any such negative caching should be retained for at most NO_R1_HOLDDOWN_TIME, in order to be able to later set up a context should the problem have been that the host was not reachable at all when the shim tried to establish the context. If the host receives an ICMP error with "Unrecognized Next Header" type (type 4, code 1) and the included packet is the I1 message it just sent, then this is a more reliable indication that the peer ULID does not implement Shim6. Again, in this case, the host should remember not to try again to establish a context with that ULID. Such negative caching should be retained for at most ICMP_HOLDDOWN_TIME, which should be significantly longer than the previous case.7.9. Receiving I1 Messages
A host MUST silently discard any received I1 messages that do not satisfy all of the following validity checks in addition to those specified in Section 12.3: o The Hdr Ext Len field is at least 1, i.e., the length is at least 16 octets. Upon the reception of an I1 message, the host extracts the ULID pair and the Forked Instance Identifier from the message. If there is no ULID-pair option, then the ULID pair is taken from the Source and Destination fields in the IPv6 header. If there is no FII option in the message, then the FII value is taken to be zero. Next, the host looks for an existing context that matches the ULID pair and the FII. If no state is found (i.e., the STATE is IDLE), then the host replies with an R1 message as specified below.
If such a context exists in ESTABLISHED STATE, the host verifies that
the locator of the initiator is included in Ls(peer). (This check is
unnecessary if there is no ULID-pair option in the I1 message.)
If the state exists in ESTABLISHED STATE and the locators do not fall
in the locator sets, then the host replies with an R1 message as
specified below. This completes the I1 processing, with the context
STATE being unchanged.
If the state exists in ESTABLISHED STATE and the locators do fall in
the sets, then the host compares CT(peer) for the context with the CT
contained in the I1 message.
o If the Context Tags match, then this probably means that the R2
message was lost and this I1 is a retransmission. In this case,
the host replies with an R2 message containing the information
available for the existent context.
o If the Context Tags do not match, then it probably means that the
initiator has lost the context information for this context and is
trying to establish a new one for the same ULID pair. In this
case, the host replies with an R1 message as specified below.
This completes the I1 processing, with the context STATE being
unchanged.
If the state exists in other STATE (I1-SENT, I2-SENT, I2BIS-SENT), we
are in the situation of concurrent context establishment, described
in Section 7.4. In this case, the host leaves CT(peer) unchanged and
replies with an R2 message. This completes the I1 processing, with
the context STATE being unchanged.
7.10. Sending R1 Messages
When the host needs to send an R1 message in response to the I1
message, it copies the Initiator Nonce from the I1 message to the R1
message, generates a Responder Nonce, and calculates a Responder
Validator option as suggested in the following section. No state is
created on the host in this case. (Note that the information used to
generate the R1 reply message is either contained in the received I1
message or is global information that is not associated with the
particular requested context (the S and the Responder Nonce values.))
When the host needs to send an R2 message in response to the I1
message, it copies the Initiator Nonce from the I1 message to the R2
message, and otherwise follows the normal rules for forming an R2
message (see Section 7.14).
7.10.1. Generating the R1 Validator
As it is stated in Section 5.15.1, the validator-generation mechanism is a local choice since the validator is generated and verified by the same node, i.e., the responder. However, in order to provide the required protection, the validator needs to be generated by fulfilling the conditions described in Section 5.15.1. One way for the responder to properly generate validators is to maintain a single secret (S) and a running counter (C) for the Responder Nonce that is incremented in fixed periods of time (this allows the responder to verify the age of a Responder Nonce, independently of the context in which it is used). When the validator is generated to be included in an R1 message sent in response to a specific I1 message, the responder can perform the following procedure to generate the validator value: First, the responder uses the current counter C value as the Responder Nonce. Second, it uses the following information (concatenated) as input to the one-way function: o The secret S o That Responder Nonce o The Initiator Context Tag from the I1 message o The ULIDs from the I1 message o The locators from the I1 message (strictly only needed if they are different from the ULIDs) o The Forked Instance Identifier, if such option was included in the I1 message Third, it uses the output of the hash function as the validator value included in the R1 message.7.11. Receiving R1 Messages and Sending I2 Messages
A host MUST silently discard any received R1 messages that do not satisfy all of the following validity checks in addition to those specified in Section 12.3: o The Hdr Ext Len field is at least 1, i.e., the length is at least 16 octets.
Upon the reception of an R1 message, the host extracts the Initiator
Nonce and the Locator Pair from the message (the latter from the
Source and Destination fields in the IPv6 header). Next, the host
looks for an existing context that matches the Initiator Nonce and
where the locators are contained in Ls(peer) and Ls(local),
respectively. If no such context is found, then the R1 message is
silently discarded.
If such a context is found, then the host looks at the STATE:
o If the STATE is I1-SENT, then it sends an I2 message as specified
below.
o In any other STATE (I2-SENT, I2BIS-SENT, ESTABLISHED), then the
host has already sent an I2 message and this is probably a reply
to a retransmitted I1 message, so this R1 message MUST be silently
discarded.
When the host sends an I2 message, it includes the Responder
Validator option that was in the R1 message. The I2 message MUST
include the ULID pair -- normally, in the IPv6 Source and Destination
fields. If a ULID-pair option was included in the I1 message, then
it MUST be included in the I2 message as well. In addition, if the
Forked Instance Identifier value for this context is non-zero, the I2
message MUST contain a Forked Instance Identifier option carrying the
Forked Instance Identifier value. Besides, the I2 message contains
an Initiator Nonce. This is not required to be the same as the one
included in the previous I1 message.
The I2 message may also include the initiator's locator list. If
this is the case, then it must also include the CGA Parameter Data
Structure. If CGA (and not HBA) is used to verify one or more of the
locators included in the locator list, then the initiator must also
include a CGA Signature option containing the signature.
When the I2 message has been sent, the STATE is set to I2-SENT.
7.12. Retransmitting I2 Messages
If the initiator does not receive an R2 message after I2_TIMEOUT time
after sending an I2 message, it MAY retransmit the I2 message, using
binary exponential backoff and randomized timers. The Responder
Validator option might have a limited lifetime -- that is, the peer
might reject Responder Validator options that are older than
VALIDATOR_MIN_LIFETIME to avoid replay attacks. In the case that the
initiator decides not to retransmit I2 messages, or in the case that
the initiator still does not receive an R2 message after retransmitting I2 messages I2_RETRIES_MAX times, the initiator SHOULD fall back to retransmitting the I1 message.7.13. Receiving I2 Messages
A host MUST silently discard any received I2 messages that do not satisfy all of the following validity checks in addition to those specified in Section 12.3: o The Hdr Ext Len field is at least 2, i.e., the length is at least 24 octets. Upon the reception of an I2 message, the host extracts the ULID pair and the Forked Instance Identifier from the message. If there is no ULID-pair option, then the ULID pair is taken from the Source and Destination fields in the IPv6 header. If there is no FII option in the message, then the FII value is taken to be zero. Next, the host verifies that the Responder Nonce is a recent one (nonces that are no older than VALIDATOR_MIN_LIFETIME SHOULD be considered recent) and that the Responder Validator option matches the validator the host would have computed for the ULID, locators, Responder Nonce, Initiator Nonce, and FII. If a CGA Parameter Data Structure (PDS) is included in the message, then the host MUST verify if the actual PDS contained in the message corresponds to the ULID(peer). If any of the above verifications fail, then the host silently discards the message; it has completed the I2 processing. If all the above verifications are successful, then the host proceeds to look for a context state for the initiator. The host looks for a context with the extracted ULID pair and FII. If none exist, then STATE of the (non-existing) context is viewed as being IDLE; thus, the actions depend on the STATE as follows: o If the STATE is IDLE (i.e., the context does not exist), the host allocates a Context Tag (CT(local)), creates the context state for the context, and sets its STATE to ESTABLISHED. It records CT(peer) and the peer's locator set as well as its own locator set in the context. It SHOULD perform the HBA/CGA verification of the peer's locator set at this point in time, as specified in Section 7.2. Then, the host sends an R2 message back as specified below.
o If the STATE is I1-SENT, then the host verifies if the source
locator is included in Ls(peer) or in the Locator List contained
in the I2 message and that the HBA/CGA verification for this
specific locator is successful.
* If this is not the case, then the message is silently discarded
and the context STATE remains unchanged.
* If this is the case, then the host updates the context
information (CT(peer), Ls(peer)) with the data contained in the
I2 message, and the host MUST send an R2 message back as
specified below. Note that before updating Ls(peer)
information, the host SHOULD perform the HBA/CGA validation of
the peer's locator set at this point in time, as specified in
Section 7.2. The host moves to ESTABLISHED STATE.
o If the STATE is ESTABLISHED, I2-SENT, or I2BIS-SENT, then the host
verifies if the source locator is included in Ls(peer) or in the
Locator List contained in the I2 message and that the HBA/CGA
verification for this specific locator is successful.
* If this is not the case, then the message is silently discarded
and the context STATE remains unchanged.
* If this is the case, then the host updates the context
information (CT(peer), Ls(peer)) with the data contained in the
I2 message, and the host MUST send an R2 message back as
specified in Section 7.14. Note that before updating Ls(peer)
information, the host SHOULD perform the HBA/CGA validation of
the peer's locator set at this point in time, as specified in
Section 7.2. The context STATE remains unchanged.
7.14. Sending R2 Messages
Before the host sends the R2 message, it MUST look for a possible
context confusion, i.e., where it would end up with multiple contexts
using the same CT(peer) for the same peer host. See Section 7.15.
When the host needs to send an R2 message, the host forms the message
and its Context Tag, and copies the Initiator Nonce from the
triggering message (I2, I2bis, or I1). In addition, it may include
alternative locators and necessary options so that the peer can
verify them. In particular, the R2 message may include the
responder's locator list and the PDS option. If CGA (and not HBA) is
used to verify the locator list, then the responder also signs the
key parts of the message and includes a CGA Signature option
containing the signature.
R2 messages are never retransmitted. If the R2 message is lost, then the initiator will retransmit either the I2/I2bis or I1 message. Either retransmission will cause the responder to find the context state and respond with an R2 message.7.15. Match for Context Confusion
When the host receives an I2, I2bis, or R2, it MUST look for a possible context confusion, i.e., where it would end up with multiple contexts using the same CT(peer) for the same peer host. This can happen when the host has received the above messages, since they create a new context with a new CT(peer). The same issue applies when CT(peer) is updated for an existing context. The host takes CT(peer) for the newly created or updated context, and looks for other contexts which: o Are in STATE ESTABLISHED or I2BIS-SENT o Have the same CT(peer) o Have an Ls(peer) that has at least one locator in common with the newly created or updated context If such a context is found, then the host checks if the ULID pair or the Forked Instance Identifier are different than the ones in the newly created or updated context: o If either or both are different, then the peer is reusing the Context Tag for the creation of a context with different ULID pair or FII, which is an indication that the peer has lost the original context. In this case, we are in a context confusion situation, and the host MUST NOT use the old context to send any packets. It MAY just discard the old context (after all, the peer has discarded it), or it MAY attempt to re-establish the old context by sending a new I1 message and moving its STATE to I1-SENT. In any case, once that this situation is detected, the host MUST NOT keep two contexts with overlapping Ls(peer) locator sets and the same Context Tag in ESTABLISHED STATE, since this would result in demultiplexing problems on the peer. o If both are the same, then this context is actually the context that is created or updated; hence, there is no confusion.
7.16. Receiving R2 Messages
A host MUST silently discard any received R2 messages that do not satisfy all of the following validity checks in addition to those specified in Section 12.3: o The Hdr Ext Len field is at least 1, i.e., the length is at least 16 octets. Upon the reception of an R2 message, the host extracts the Initiator Nonce and the Locator Pair from the message (the latter from the Source and Destination fields in the IPv6 header). Next, the host looks for an existing context that matches the Initiator Nonce and where the locators are Lp(peer) and Lp(local), respectively. Based on the STATE: o If no such context is found, i.e., the STATE is IDLE, then the message is silently dropped. o If STATE is I1-SENT, I2-SENT, or I2BIS-SENT, then the host performs the following actions. If a CGA Parameter Data Structure (PDS) is included in the message, then the host MUST verify that the actual PDS contained in the message corresponds to the ULID(peer) as specified in Section 7.2. If the verification fails, then the message is silently dropped. If the verification succeeds, then the host records the information from the R2 message in the context state; it records the peer's locator set and CT(peer). The host SHOULD perform the HBA/CGA verification of the peer's locator set at this point in time, as specified in Section 7.2. The host sets its STATE to ESTABLISHED. o If the STATE is ESTABLISHED, the R2 message is silently ignored, (since this is likely to be a reply to a retransmitted I2 message). Before the host completes the R2 processing, it MUST look for a possible context confusion, i.e., where it would end up with multiple contexts using the same CT(peer) for the same peer host. See Section 7.15.7.17. Sending R1bis Messages
Upon the receipt of a Shim6 Payload Extension header where there is no current Shim6 context at the receiver, the receiver is to respond with an R1bis message in order to enable a fast re-establishment of the lost Shim6 context.
Also, a host is to respond with an R1bis upon receipt of any control
messages that have a message type in the range 64-127 (i.e.,
excluding the context-setup messages such as I1, R1, R1bis, I2,
I2bis, R2, and future extensions), where the control message refers
to a non-existent context.
We assume that all the incoming packets that trigger the generation
of an R1bis message contain a locator pair (in the address fields of
the IPv6 header) and a Context Tag.
Upon reception of any of the packets described above, the host will
reply with an R1bis including the following information:
o The Responder Nonce is a number picked by the responder that the
initiator will return in the I2bis message.
o Packet Context Tag is the Context Tag contained in the received
packet that triggered the generation of the R1bis message.
o The Responder Validator option is included, with a validator that
is computed as suggested in the next section.
7.17.1. Generating the R1bis Validator
One way for the responder to properly generate validators is to
maintain a single secret (S) and a running counter C for the
Responder Nonce that is incremented in fixed periods of time (this
allows the responder to verify the age of a Responder Nonce,
independently of the context in which it is used).
When the validator is generated to be included in an R1bis message --
that is, sent in response to a specific control packet or a packet
containing the Shim6 Payload Extension header message -- the
responder can perform the following procedure to generate the
validator value:
First, the responder uses the counter C value as the Responder Nonce.
Second, it uses the following information (concatenated) as input to
the one-way function:
o The secret S
o That Responder Nonce
o The Receiver Context Tag included in the received packet
o The locators from the received packet
Third, it uses the output of the hash function as the validator string.7.18. Receiving R1bis Messages and Sending I2bis Messages
A host MUST silently discard any received R1bis messages that do not satisfy all of the following validity checks in addition to those specified in Section 12.3: o The Hdr Ext Len field is at least 1, i.e., the length is at least 16 octets. Upon the reception of an R1bis message, the host extracts the Packet Context Tag and the Locator Pair from the message (the latter from the Source and Destination fields in the IPv6 header). Next, the host looks for an existing context where the Packet Context Tag matches CT(peer) and where the locators match Lp(peer) and Lp(local), respectively. o If no such context is found, i.e., the STATE is IDLE, then the R1bis message is silently discarded. o If the STATE is I1-SENT, I2-SENT, or I2BIS-SENT, then the R1bis message is silently discarded. o If the STATE is ESTABLISHED, then we are in the case where the peer has lost the context, and the goal is to try to re-establish it. For that, the host leaves CT(peer) unchanged in the context state, transitions to I2BIS-SENT STATE, and sends an I2bis message, including the computed Responder Validator option, the Packet Context Tag, and the Responder Nonce that were received in the R1bis message. This I2bis message is sent using the locator pair included in the R1bis message. In the case that this locator pair differs from the ULID pair defined for this context, then a ULID option MUST be included in the I2bis message. In addition, if the Forked Instance Identifier for this context is non-zero, then a Forked Instance Identifier option carrying the instance identifier value for this context MUST be included in the I2bis message. The I2bis message may also include a locator list. If this is the case, then it must also include the CGA Parameter Data Structure. If CGA (and not HBA) is used to verify one or more of the locators included in the locator list, then the initiator must also include a CGA Signature option containing the signature.
7.19. Retransmitting I2bis Messages
If the initiator does not receive an R2 message after I2bis_TIMEOUT time after sending an I2bis message, it MAY retransmit the I2bis message, using binary exponential backoff and randomized timers. The Responder Validator option might have a limited lifetime -- that is, the peer might reject Responder Validator options that are older than VALIDATOR_MIN_LIFETIME to avoid replay attacks. In the case that the initiator decides not to retransmit I2bis messages, or in the case that the initiator still does not receive an R2 message after retransmitting I2bis messages I2bis_RETRIES_MAX times, the initiator SHOULD fall back to retransmitting the I1 message.7.20. Receiving I2bis Messages and Sending R2 Messages
A host MUST silently discard any received I2bis messages that do not satisfy all of the following validity checks in addition to those specified in Section 12.3: o The Hdr Ext Len field is at least 3, i.e., the length is at least 32 octets. Upon the reception of an I2bis message, the host extracts the ULID pair and the Forked Instance Identifier from the message. If there is no ULID-pair option, then the ULID pair is taken from the Source and Destination fields in the IPv6 header. If there is no FII option in the message, then the FII value is taken to be zero. Next, the host verifies that the Responder Nonce is a recent one (nonces that are no older than VALIDATOR_MIN_LIFETIME SHOULD be considered recent) and that the Responder Validator option matches the validator the host would have computed for the locators, Responder Nonce, and Receiver Context Tag as part of sending an R1bis message. If a CGA Parameter Data Structure (PDS) is included in the message, then the host MUST verify if the actual PDS contained in the message corresponds to the ULID(peer). If any of the above verifications fail, then the host silently discards the message; it has completed the I2bis processing. If both verifications are successful, then the host proceeds to look for a context state for the initiator. The host looks for a context with the extracted ULID pair and FII. If none exist, then STATE of the (non-existing) context is viewed as being IDLE; thus, the actions depend on the STATE as follows:
o If the STATE is IDLE (i.e., the context does not exist), the host
allocates a Context Tag (CT(local)), creates the context state for
the context, and sets its STATE to ESTABLISHED. The host SHOULD
NOT use the Packet Context Tag in the I2bis message for CT(local);
instead, it should pick a new random Context Tag just as when it
processes an I2 message. It records CT(peer) and the peer's
locator set as well as its own locator set in the context. It
SHOULD perform the HBA/CGA verification of the peer's locator set
at this point in time, as specified in Section 7.2. Then the host
sends an R2 message back as specified in Section 7.14.
o If the STATE is I1-SENT, then the host verifies if the source
locator is included in Ls(peer) or in the Locator List contained
in the I2bis message and if the HBA/CGA verification for this
specific locator is successful.
* If this is not the case, then the message is silently
discarded. The context STATE remains unchanged.
* If this is the case, then the host updates the context
information (CT(peer), Ls(peer)) with the data contained in the
I2bis message, and the host MUST send an R2 message back as
specified below. Note that before updating Ls(peer)
information, the host SHOULD perform the HBA/CGA validation of
the peer's locator set at this point in time, as specified in
Section 7.2. The host moves to ESTABLISHED STATE.
o If the STATE is ESTABLISHED, I2-SENT, or I2BIS-SENT, then the host
determines whether at least one of the two following conditions
hold: i) if the source locator is included in Ls(peer) or, ii) if
the source locator is included in the Locator List contained in
the I2bis message and if the HBA/CGA verification for this
specific locator is successful.
* If none of the two aforementioned conditions hold, then the
message is silently discarded. The context STATE remains
unchanged.
* If at least one of the two aforementioned conditions hold, then
the host updates the context information (CT(peer), Ls(peer))
with the data contained in the I2bis message, and the host MUST
send an R2 message back, as specified in Section 7.14. Note
that before updating Ls(peer) information, the host SHOULD
perform the HBA/CGA validation of the peer's locator set at
this point in time, as specified in Section 7.2. The context
STATE remains unchanged.
8. Handling ICMP Error Messages
The routers in the path as well as the destination might generate ICMP error messages. In some cases, the Shim6 can take action and solve the problem that resulted in the error. In other cases, the Shim6 layer cannot solve the problem, and it is critical that these packets make it back up to the ULPs so that they can take appropriate action. This is an implementation issue in the sense that the mechanism is completely local to the host itself. But the issue of how ICMP errors are correctly dispatched to the ULP on the host are important; hence, this section specifies the issue. All ICMP messages MUST be delivered to the ULP in all cases, except when Shim6 successfully acts on the message (e.g., selects a new path). There SHOULD be a configuration option to unconditionally deliver all ICMP messages (including ones acted on by shim6) to the ULP. According to that recommendation, the following ICMP error messages should be processed by the Shim6 layer and not passed to the ULP: ICMP error Destination Unreachable, with codes: 0 (No route to destination) 1 (Communication with destination administratively prohibited) 2 (Beyond scope of source address) 3 (Address unreachable) 5 (Source address failed ingress/egress policy) 6 (Reject route to destination) ICMP Time exceeded error. ICMP Parameter problem error, with the parameter that caused the error being a Shim6 parameter. The following ICMP error messages report problems that cannot be addressed by the Shim6 layer and that should be passed to the ULP (as described below): ICMP Packet too big error. ICMP Destination Unreachable with Code 4 (Port unreachable). ICMP Parameter problem (if the parameter that caused the problem is not a Shim6 parameter).
+--------------+ | IPv6 Header | | | +--------------+ | ICMPv6 | | Header | - - +--------------+ - - | IPv6 Header | | src, dst as | Can be dispatched IPv6 | sent by ULP | unmodified to ULP | on host | ICMP error handler Packet +--------------+ | ULP | in | Header | +--------------+ Error | | ~ Data ~ | | - - +--------------+ - - Figure 8: ICMP Error Handling without the Shim6 Payload Extension Header When the ULP packets are sent without the Shim6 Payload Extension header -- that is, while the initial locators=ULIDs are working -- this introduces no new concerns; an implementation's existing mechanism for delivering these errors to the ULP will work. See Figure 8. But when the shim on the transmitting side inserts the Shim6 Payload Extension header and replaces the ULIDs in the IP address fields with some other locators, then an ICMP error coming back will have a "packet in error", which is not a packet that the ULP sent. Thus, the implementation will have to apply reverse mapping to the "packet in error" before passing the ICMP error up to the ULP, including the ICMP extensions defined in [25]. See Figure 9.
+--------------+ | IPv6 Header | | | +--------------+ | ICMPv6 | | Header | - - +--------------+ - - | IPv6 Header | | src, dst as | Needs to be IPv6 | modified by | transformed to | shim on host | have ULIDs +--------------+ in src, dst fields, Packet | Shim6 ext. | and Shim6 Ext. | Header | header removed in +--------------+ before it can be | Transport | dispatched to the ULP Error | Header | ICMP error handler. +--------------+ | | ~ Data ~ | | - - +--------------+ - - Figure 9: ICMP Error Handling with the Shim6 Payload Extension Header Note that this mapping is different than when receiving packets from the peer with Shim6 Payload Extension headers because, in that case, the packets contain CT(local). But the ICMP errors have a "packet in error" with a Shim6 Payload Extension header containing CT(peer). This is because they were intended to be received by the peer. In any case, since the <Source Locator, Destination Locator, CT(peer)> has to be unique when received by the peer, the local host should also only be able to find one context that matches this tuple. If the ICMP error is a "packet too big", the reported MTU must be adjusted to be 8 octets less, since the shim will add 8 octets when sending packets. After the "packet in error" has had the original ULIDs inserted, then this Shim6 Payload Extension header can be removed. The result is a "packet in error" that is passed to the ULP which looks as if the shim did not exist.9. Teardown of the ULID-Pair Context
Each host can unilaterally decide when to tear down a ULID-pair context. It is RECOMMENDED that hosts do not tear down the context when they know that there is some upper-layer protocol that might use
the context. For example, an implementation might know this if there is an open socket that is connected to the ULID(peer). However, there might be cases when the knowledge is not readily available to the shim layer, for instance, for UDP applications that do not connect their sockets or for any application that retains some higher-level state across (TCP) connections and UDP packets. Thus, it is RECOMMENDED that implementations minimize premature teardown by observing the amount of traffic that is sent and received using the context, and tear down the state only after it appears quiescent. A reasonable approach would be to not tear down a context until at least 5 minutes have passed since the last message was sent or received using the context. (Note that packets that use the ULID pair as a locator pair and that do not require address rewriting by the Shim6 layer are also considered as packets using the associated Shim6 context.) Since there is no explicit, coordinated removal of the context state, there are potential issues around Context Tag reuse. One end might remove the state and potentially reuse that Context Tag for some other communication, and the peer might later try to use the old context (which it didn't remove). The protocol has mechanisms to recover from this, which work whether the state removal was total and accidental (e.g., crash and reboot of the host) or just a garbage collection of shim state that didn't seem to be used. However, the host should try to minimize the reuse of Context Tags by trying to randomly cycle through the 2^47 Context Tag values. (See Appendix C for a summary of how the recovery works in the different cases.)10. Updating the Peer
The Update Request and Acknowledgement are used both to update the list of locators (only possible when CGA is used to verify the locator(s)) and to update the preferences associated with each locator.10.1. Sending Update Request Messages
When a host has a change in the locator set, it can communicate this to the peer by sending an Update Request. When a host has a change in the preferences for its locator set, it can also communicate this to the peer. The Update Request message can include just a Locator List option (to convey the new set of locators), just a Locator Preferences option, or both a new Locator List and new Locator Preferences.
Should the host send a new Locator List, the host picks a new random, local generation number, records this in the context, and puts it in the Locator List option. Any Locator Preference option, whether sent in the same Update Request or in some future Update Request, will use that generation number to make sure the preferences get applied to the correct version of the locator list. The host picks a random Request Nonce for each update and keeps the same nonce for any retransmissions of the Update Request. The nonce is used to match the acknowledgement with the request. The Update Request message can also include a CGA Parameter Data Structure (this is needed if the CGA PDS was not previously exchanged). If CGA (and not HBA) is used to verify one or more of the locators included in the locator list, then a CGA Signature option containing the signature must also be included in the Update Request message.10.2. Retransmitting Update Request Messages
If the host does not receive an Update Acknowledgement R2 message in response to the Update Request message after UPDATE_TIMEOUT time, then it needs to retransmit the Update Request message. The retransmissions should use a retransmission timer with binary exponential backoff to avoid creating congestion issues for the network when lots of hosts perform Update Request retransmissions. Also, the actual timeout value should be randomized between 0.5 and 1.5 of the nominal value to avoid self-synchronization. Should there be no response, the retransmissions continue forever. The binary exponential backoff stops at MAX_UPDATE_TIMEOUT. But the only way the retransmissions would stop when there is no acknowledgement is when Shim6, through the REAP protocol or some other mechanism, decides to discard the context state due to lack of ULP usage in combination with no responses to the REAP protocol.10.3. Newer Information while Retransmitting
There can be at most one outstanding Update Request message at any time. Thus until, for example, an update with a new Locator List has been acknowledged, any newer Locator List or new Locator Preferences cannot just be sent. However, when there is newer information and the older information has not yet been acknowledged, the host can, instead of waiting for an acknowledgement, abandon the previous update and construct a new Update Request (with a new Request Nonce) that includes the new information as well as the information that hasn't yet been acknowledged.
For example, if the original locator list was just (A1, A2), and if
an Update Request with the Locator List (A1, A3) is outstanding, and
the host determines that it should both add A4 to the locator list
and mark A1 as BROKEN, then it would need to:
o Pick a new random Request Nonce for the new Update Request.
o Pick a new random generation number for the new locator list.
o Form the new locator list: (A1, A3, A4).
o Form a Locator Preference option that uses the new generation
number and has the BROKEN flag for the first locator.
o Send the Update Request and start a retransmission timer.
Any Update Acknowledgement that doesn't match the current Request
Nonce (for instance, an acknowledgement for the abandoned Update
Request) will be silently ignored.
10.4. Receiving Update Request Messages
A host MUST silently discard any received Update Request messages
that do not satisfy all of the following validity checks in addition
to those specified in Section 12.3:
o The Hdr Ext Len field is at least 1, i.e., the length is at least
16 octets.
Upon the reception of an Update Request message, the host extracts
the Context Tag from the message. It then looks for a context that
has a CT(local) that matches the Context Tag. If no such context is
found, it sends an R1bis message as specified in Section 7.17.
Since Context Tags can be reused, the host MUST verify that the IPv6
Source Address field is part of Ls(peer) and that the IPv6
Destination Address field is part of Ls(local). If this is not the
case, the sender of the Update Request has a stale context that
happens to match the CT(local) for this context. In this case, the
host MUST send an R1bis message and otherwise ignore the Update
Request message.
If a CGA Parameter Data Structure (PDS) is included in the message,
then the host MUST verify if the actual PDS contained in the packet
corresponds to the ULID(peer). If this verification fails, the
message is silently discarded.
Then, depending on the STATE of the context: o If ESTABLISHED, proceed to process message. o If I1-SENT, discard the message and stay in I1-SENT. o If I2-SENT, send I2 and proceed to process the message. o If I2BIS-SENT, send I2bis and proceed to process the message. The verification issues for the locators carried in the Update Request message are specified in Section 7.2. If the locator list cannot be verified, this procedure should send a Shim6 Error message with Error Code=2. In any case, if it cannot be verified, there is no further processing of the Update Request. Once any Locator List option in the Update Request has been verified, the peer generation number in the context is updated to be the one in the Locator List option. If the Update Request message contains a Locator Preference option, then the generation number in the preference option is compared with the peer generation number in the context. If they do not match, then the host generates a Shim6 Error message with Error Code=3 and with the Pointer field referring to the first octet in the Locator List Generation number in the Locator Preference option. In addition, if the number of elements in the Locator Preference option does not match the number of locators in Ls(peer), then a Shim6 Error message with Error Code=4 is sent with the Pointer field referring to the first octet of the Length field in the Locator Preference option. In both cases of failure, no further processing is performed for the Update Request message. If the generation numbers match, the locator preferences are recorded in the context. Once the Locator List option (if present) has been verified and any new locator list or locator preferences have been recorded, the host sends an Update Acknowledgement message, copying the nonce from the request and using the CT(peer) as the Receiver Context Tag. Any new locators (or, more likely, new locator preferences) might result in the host wanting to select a different locator pair for the context -- for instance, if the Locator Preferences option lists the current Lp(peer) as BROKEN. The host uses the reachability exploration procedure described in [4] to verify that the new locator is reachable before changing Lp(peer).
10.5. Receiving Update Acknowledgement Messages
A host MUST silently discard any received Update Acknowledgement messages that do not satisfy all of the following validity checks in addition to those specified in Section 12.3: o The Hdr Ext Len field is at least 1, i.e., the length is at least 16 octets. Upon the reception of an Update Acknowledgement message, the host extracts the Context Tag and the Request Nonce from the message. It then looks for a context that has a CT(local) that matches the Context Tag. If no such context is found, it sends an R1bis message as specified in Section 7.17. Since Context Tags can be reused, the host MUST verify that the IPv6 Source Address field is part of Ls(peer) and that the IPv6 Destination Address field is part of Ls(local). If this is not the case, the sender of the Update Acknowledgement has a stale context that happens to match the CT(local) for this context. In this case, the host MUST send an R1bis message and otherwise ignore the Update Acknowledgement message. Then, depending on the STATE of the context: o If ESTABLISHED, proceed to process message. o If I1-SENT, discard the message and stay in I1-SENT. o If I2-SENT, send R2 and proceed to process the message. o If I2BIS-SENT, send R2 and proceed to process the message. If the Request Nonce doesn't match the nonce for the last sent Update Request for the context, then the Update Acknowledgement is silently ignored. If the nonce matches, then the update has been completed and the Update retransmit timer can be reset.11. Sending ULP Payloads
When there is no context state for the ULID pair on the sender, there is no effect on how ULP packets are sent. If the host is using some heuristic for determining when to perform a deferred context establishment, then the host might need to do some accounting (count the number of packets sent and received) even before there is a ULID- pair context.
If the context is not in ESTABLISHED or I2BIS-SENT STATE, then there is also no effect on how the ULP packets are sent. Only in the ESTABLISHED and I2BIS-SENT STATEs does the host have CT(peer) and Ls(peer) set. If there is a ULID-pair context for the ULID pair, then the sender needs to verify whether the context uses the ULIDs as locators -- that is, whether Lp(peer) == ULID(peer) and Lp(local) == ULID(local). If this is the case, then packets can be sent unmodified by the shim. If it is not the case, then the logic in Section 11.1 will need to be used. There will also be some maintenance activity relating to (un)reachability detection, whether or not packets are sent with the original locators. The details of this are out of scope for this document and are specified in [4].11.1. Sending ULP Payload after a Switch
When sending packets, if there is a ULID-pair context for the ULID pair, and if the ULID pair is no longer used as the locator pair, then the sender needs to transform the packet. Apart from replacing the IPv6 Source and Destination fields with a locator pair, an 8-octet header is added so that the receiver can find the context and inverse the transformation. If there has been a failure causing a switch, and later the context switches back to sending things using the ULID pair as the locator pair, then there is no longer a need to do any packet transformation by the sender; hence, there is no need to include the 8-octet Extension header. First, the IP address fields are replaced. The IPv6 Source Address field is set to Lp(local) and the Destination Address field is set to Lp(peer). Note that this MUST NOT cause any recalculation of the ULP checksums, since the ULP checksums are carried end-to-end and the ULP pseudo-header contains the ULIDs that are preserved end-to-end. The sender skips any "Routing Sublayer Extension headers" that the ULP might have included; thus, it skips any Hop-by-Hop Extension header, any Routing header, and any Destination Options header that is followed by a Routing header. After any such headers, the Shim6 Extension header will be added. This might be before a Fragment header, a Destination Options header, an ESP or AH header, or a ULP header.
The inserted Shim6 Payload Extension header includes the peer's Context Tag. It takes on the Next Header value from the preceding Extension header, since that Extension header will have a Next Header value of Shim6.12. Receiving Packets
The receive side of the communication can receive packets associated to a Shim6 context, with or without the Shim6 Extension header. In case the ULID pair is being used as a locator pair, the packets received will not have the Shim6 Extension header and will be processed by the Shim6 layer as described below. If the received packet does carry the Shim6 Extension header, as in normal IPv6 receive-side packet processing, the receiver parses the (extension) headers in order. Should it find a Shim6 Extension header, it will look at the "P" field in that header. If this bit is zero, then the packet must be passed to the Shim6 payload handling for rewriting. Otherwise, the packet is passed to the Shim6 control handling.12.1. Receiving Payload without Extension Headers
The receiver extracts the IPv6 Source and Destination fields and uses this to find a ULID-pair context, such that the IPv6 address fields match the ULID(local) and ULID(peer). If such a context is found, the context appears not to be quiescent; this should be remembered in order to avoid tearing down the context and for reachability detection purposes as described in [4]. The host continues with the normal processing of the IP packet.12.2. Receiving Shim6 Payload Extension Headers
The receiver extracts the Context Tag from the Shim6 Payload Extension header and uses this to find a ULID-pair context. If no context is found, the receiver SHOULD generate an R1bis message (see Section 7.17). Then, depending on the STATE of the context: o If ESTABLISHED, proceed to process message. o If I1-SENT, discard the message and stay in I1-SENT. o If I2-SENT, send I2 and proceed to process the message. o If I2BIS-SENT, send I2bis and proceed to process the message.
With the context in hand, the receiver can now replace the IP address fields with the ULIDs kept in the context. Finally, the Shim6 Payload Extension header is removed from the packet (so that the ULP doesn't get confused by it), and the Next Header value in the preceding header is set to be the actual protocol number for the payload. Then the packet can be passed to the protocol identified by the Next Header value (which might be some function associated with the IP endpoint sublayer or a ULP). If the host is using some heuristic for determining when to perform a deferred context establishment, then the host might need to do some accounting (count the number of packets sent and received) for packets that do not have a Shim6 Extension header and for which there is no context. But the need for this depends on what heuristics the implementation has chosen.12.3. Receiving Shim Control Messages
A shim control message has the Checksum field verified. The Shim Header Length field is also verified against the length of the IPv6 packet to make sure that the shim message doesn't claim to end past the end of the IPv6 packet. Finally, it checks that neither the IPv6 Destination field nor the IPv6 Source field is a multicast address or an unspecified address. If any of those checks fail, the packet is silently dropped. The message is then dispatched based on the shim message type. Each message type is then processed as described elsewhere in this document. If the packet contains a shim message type that is unknown to the receiver, then a Shim6 Error message with Error Code=0 is generated and sent back. The Pointer field is set to point at the first octet of the shim message type. All the control messages can contain any options with C=0. If there is any option in the message with C=1 that isn't known to the host, then the host MUST send a Shim6 Error message with Error Code=1 with the Pointer field referencing the first octet of the Option Type.12.4. Context Lookup
We assume that each shim context has its own STATE machine. We assume that a dispatcher delivers incoming packets to the STATE machine that it belongs to. Here, we describe the rules used for the dispatcher to deliver packets to the correct shim context STATE machine.
There is one STATE machine per identified context that is
conceptually identified by the ULID pair and Forked Instance
Identifier (which is zero by default) or identified by CT(local).
However, the detailed lookup rules are more complex, especially
during context establishment.
Clearly, if the required context is not established, it will be in
IDLE STATE.
During context establishment, the context is identified as follows:
o I1 packets: Deliver to the context associated with the ULID pair
and the Forked Instance Identifier.
o I2 packets: Deliver to the context associated with the ULID pair
and the Forked Instance Identifier.
o R1 packets: Deliver to the context with the locator pair included
in the packet and the Initiator Nonce included in the packet (R1
does not contain a ULID pair or the CT(local)). If no context
exists with this locator pair and Initiator Nonce, then silently
discard.
o R2 packets: Deliver to the context with the locator pair included
in the packet and the Initiator Nonce included in the packet (R2
does not contain a ULID pair or the CT(local)). If no context
exists with this locator pair and Initiator Nonce, then silently
discard.
o R1bis packets: Deliver to the context that has the locator pair
and the CT(peer) equal to the Packet Context Tag included in the
R1bis packet.
o I2bis packets: Deliver to the context associated with the ULID
pair and the Forked Instance Identifier.
o Shim6 Payload Extension headers: Deliver to the context with
CT(local) equal to the Receiver Context Tag included in the
packet.
o Other control messages (Update, Keepalive, Probe): Deliver to the
context with CT(local) equal to the Receiver Context Tag included
in the packet. Verify that the IPv6 Source Address field is part
of Ls(peer) and that the IPv6 Destination Address field is part of
Ls(local). If not, send an R1bis message.
o Shim6 Error messages and ICMP errors that contain a Shim6 Payload
Extension header or other shim control packet in the "packet in
error": Use the "packet in error" for dispatching as follows.
Deliver to the context with CT(peer) equal to the Receiver Context
Tag -- Lp(local) being the IPv6 source address and Lp(peer) being
the IPv6 destination address.
In addition, the shim on the sending side needs to be able to find
the context state when a ULP packet is passed down from the ULP. In
that case, the lookup key is the pair of ULIDs and FII=0. If we have
a ULP API that allows the ULP to do context forking, then presumably
the ULP would pass down the Forked Instance Identifier.
(page 86 continued on part 4)