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+
+Network Working Group R. Hinden
+Request for Comments: 4193 Nokia
+Category: Standards Track B. Haberman
+ JHU-APL
+ October 2005
+
+
+ Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses
+
+Status of This Memo
+
+ This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
+ Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
+ improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
+ Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
+ and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
+
+Copyright Notice
+
+ Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).
+
+Abstract
+
+ This document defines an IPv6 unicast address format that is globally
+ unique and is intended for local communications, usually inside of a
+ site. These addresses are not expected to be routable on the global
+ Internet.
+
+Table of Contents
+
+ 1. Introduction ....................................................2
+ 2. Acknowledgements ................................................3
+ 3. Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses ....................................3
+ 3.1. Format .....................................................3
+ 3.1.1. Background ..........................................4
+ 3.2. Global ID ..................................................4
+ 3.2.1. Locally Assigned Global IDs .........................5
+ 3.2.2. Sample Code for Pseudo-Random Global ID Algorithm ...5
+ 3.2.3. Analysis of the Uniqueness of Global IDs ............6
+ 3.3. Scope Definition ...........................................6
+ 4. Operational Guidelines ..........................................7
+ 4.1. Routing ....................................................7
+ 4.2. Renumbering and Site Merging ...............................7
+ 4.3. Site Border Router and Firewall Packet Filtering ...........8
+ 4.4. DNS Issues .................................................8
+ 4.5. Application and Higher Level Protocol Issues ...............9
+ 4.6. Use of Local IPv6 Addresses for Local Communication ........9
+ 4.7. Use of Local IPv6 Addresses with VPNs .....................10
+
+
+
+Hinden & Haberman Standards Track [Page 1]
+
+RFC 4193 Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses October 2005
+
+
+ 5. Global Routing Considerations ..................................11
+ 5.1. From the Standpoint of the Internet .......................11
+ 5.2. From the Standpoint of a Site .............................11
+ 6. Advantages and Disadvantages ...................................12
+ 6.1. Advantages ................................................12
+ 6.2. Disadvantages .............................................13
+ 7. Security Considerations ........................................13
+ 8. IANA Considerations ............................................13
+ 9. References .....................................................13
+ 9.1. Normative References ......................................13
+ 9.2. Informative References ....................................14
+
+1. Introduction
+
+ This document defines an IPv6 unicast address format that is globally
+ unique and is intended for local communications [IPV6]. These
+ addresses are called Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses and are
+ abbreviated in this document as Local IPv6 addresses. They are not
+ expected to be routable on the global Internet. They are routable
+ inside of a more limited area such as a site. They may also be
+ routed between a limited set of sites.
+
+ Local IPv6 unicast addresses have the following characteristics:
+
+ - Globally unique prefix (with high probability of uniqueness).
+
+ - Well-known prefix to allow for easy filtering at site
+ boundaries.
+
+ - Allow sites to be combined or privately interconnected without
+ creating any address conflicts or requiring renumbering of
+ interfaces that use these prefixes.
+
+ - Internet Service Provider independent and can be used for
+ communications inside of a site without having any permanent or
+ intermittent Internet connectivity.
+
+ - If accidentally leaked outside of a site via routing or DNS,
+ there is no conflict with any other addresses.
+
+ - In practice, applications may treat these addresses like global
+ scoped addresses.
+
+ This document defines the format of Local IPv6 addresses, how to
+ allocate them, and usage considerations including routing, site
+ border routers, DNS, application support, VPN usage, and guidelines
+ for how to use for local communication inside a site.
+
+
+
+
+Hinden & Haberman Standards Track [Page 2]
+
+RFC 4193 Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses October 2005
+
+
+ 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].
+
+2. Acknowledgements
+
+ The underlying idea of creating Local IPv6 addresses described in
+ this document has been proposed a number of times by a variety of
+ people. The authors of this document do not claim exclusive credit.
+ Credit goes to Brian Carpenter, Christian Huitema, Aidan Williams,
+ Andrew White, Charlie Perkins, and many others. The authors would
+ also like to thank Brian Carpenter, Charlie Perkins, Harald
+ Alvestrand, Keith Moore, Margaret Wasserman, Shannon Behrens, Alan
+ Beard, Hans Kruse, Geoff Huston, Pekka Savola, Christian Huitema, Tim
+ Chown, Steve Bellovin, Alex Zinin, Tony Hain, Bill Fenner, Sam
+ Hartman, and Elwyn Davies for their comments and suggestions on this
+ document.
+
+3. Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses
+
+3.1. Format
+
+ The Local IPv6 addresses are created using a pseudo-randomly
+ allocated global ID. They have the following format:
+
+ | 7 bits |1| 40 bits | 16 bits | 64 bits |
+ +--------+-+------------+-----------+----------------------------+
+ | Prefix |L| Global ID | Subnet ID | Interface ID |
+ +--------+-+------------+-----------+----------------------------+
+
+ Where:
+
+ Prefix FC00::/7 prefix to identify Local IPv6 unicast
+ addresses.
+
+ L Set to 1 if the prefix is locally assigned.
+ Set to 0 may be defined in the future. See
+ Section 3.2 for additional information.
+
+ Global ID 40-bit global identifier used to create a
+ globally unique prefix. See Section 3.2 for
+ additional information.
+
+ Subnet ID 16-bit Subnet ID is an identifier of a subnet
+ within the site.
+
+ Interface ID 64-bit Interface ID as defined in [ADDARCH].
+
+
+
+
+Hinden & Haberman Standards Track [Page 3]
+
+RFC 4193 Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses October 2005
+
+
+3.1.1. Background
+
+ There were a range of choices available when choosing the size of the
+ prefix and Global ID field length. There is a direct tradeoff
+ between having a Global ID field large enough to support foreseeable
+ future growth and not using too much of the IPv6 address space
+ needlessly. A reasonable way of evaluating a specific field length
+ is to compare it to a projected 2050 world population of 9.3 billion
+ [POPUL] and the number of resulting /48 prefixes per person. A range
+ of prefix choices is shown in the following table:
+
+ Prefix Global ID Number of Prefixes % of IPv6
+ Length /48 Prefixes per Person Address Space
+
+ /11 37 137,438,953,472 15 0.049%
+ /10 38 274,877,906,944 30 0.098%
+ /9 39 549,755,813,888 59 0.195%
+ /8 40 1,099,511,627,776 118 0.391%
+ /7 41 2,199,023,255,552 236 0.781%
+ /6 42 4,398,046,511,104 473 1.563%
+
+ A very high utilization ratio of these allocations can be assumed
+ because the Global ID field does not require internal structure, and
+ there is no reason to be able to aggregate the prefixes.
+
+ The authors believe that a /7 prefix resulting in a 41-bit Global ID
+ space (including the L bit) is a good choice. It provides for a
+ large number of assignments (i.e., 2.2 trillion) and at the same time
+ uses less than .8% of the total IPv6 address space. It is unlikely
+ that this space will be exhausted. If more than this were to be
+ needed, then additional IPv6 address space could be allocated for
+ this purpose.
+
+3.2. Global ID
+
+ The allocation of Global IDs is pseudo-random [RANDOM]. They MUST
+ NOT be assigned sequentially or with well-known numbers. This is to
+ ensure that there is not any relationship between allocations and to
+ help clarify that these prefixes are not intended to be routed
+ globally. Specifically, these prefixes are not designed to
+ aggregate.
+
+ This document defines a specific local method to allocate Global IDs,
+ indicated by setting the L bit to 1. Another method, indicated by
+ clearing the L bit, may be defined later. Apart from the allocation
+ method, all Local IPv6 addresses behave and are treated identically.
+
+
+
+
+
+Hinden & Haberman Standards Track [Page 4]
+
+RFC 4193 Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses October 2005
+
+
+ The local assignments are self-generated and do not need any central
+ coordination or assignment, but have an extremely high probability of
+ being unique.
+
+3.2.1. Locally Assigned Global IDs
+
+ Locally assigned Global IDs MUST be generated with a pseudo-random
+ algorithm consistent with [RANDOM]. Section 3.2.2 describes a
+ suggested algorithm. It is important that all sites generating
+ Global IDs use a functionally similar algorithm to ensure there is a
+ high probability of uniqueness.
+
+ The use of a pseudo-random algorithm to generate Global IDs in the
+ locally assigned prefix gives an assurance that any network numbered
+ using such a prefix is highly unlikely to have that address space
+ clash with any other network that has another locally assigned prefix
+ allocated to it. This is a particularly useful property when
+ considering a number of scenarios including networks that merge,
+ overlapping VPN address space, or hosts mobile between such networks.
+
+3.2.2. Sample Code for Pseudo-Random Global ID Algorithm
+
+ The algorithm described below is intended to be used for locally
+ assigned Global IDs. In each case the resulting global ID will be
+ used in the appropriate prefix as defined in Section 3.2.
+
+ 1) Obtain the current time of day in 64-bit NTP format [NTP].
+
+ 2) Obtain an EUI-64 identifier from the system running this
+ algorithm. If an EUI-64 does not exist, one can be created from
+ a 48-bit MAC address as specified in [ADDARCH]. If an EUI-64
+ cannot be obtained or created, a suitably unique identifier,
+ local to the node, should be used (e.g., system serial number).
+
+ 3) Concatenate the time of day with the system-specific identifier
+ in order to create a key.
+
+ 4) Compute an SHA-1 digest on the key as specified in [FIPS, SHA1];
+ the resulting value is 160 bits.
+
+ 5) Use the least significant 40 bits as the Global ID.
+
+ 6) Concatenate FC00::/7, the L bit set to 1, and the 40-bit Global
+ ID to create a Local IPv6 address prefix.
+
+ This algorithm will result in a Global ID that is reasonably unique
+ and can be used to create a locally assigned Local IPv6 address
+ prefix.
+
+
+
+Hinden & Haberman Standards Track [Page 5]
+
+RFC 4193 Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses October 2005
+
+
+3.2.3. Analysis of the Uniqueness of Global IDs
+
+ The selection of a pseudo random Global ID is similar to the
+ selection of an SSRC identifier in RTP/RTCP defined in Section 8.1 of
+ [RTP]. This analysis is adapted from that document.
+
+ Since Global IDs are chosen randomly (and independently), it is
+ possible that separate networks have chosen the same Global ID. For
+ any given network, with one or more random Global IDs, that has
+ inter-connections to other such networks, having a total of N such
+ IDs, the probability that two or more of these IDs will collide can
+ be approximated using the formula:
+
+ P = 1 - exp(-N**2 / 2**(L+1))
+
+ where P is the probability of collision, N is the number of
+ interconnected Global IDs, and L is the length of the Global ID.
+
+ The following table shows the probability of a collision for a range
+ of connections using a 40-bit Global ID field.
+
+ Connections Probability of Collision
+
+ 2 1.81*10^-12
+ 10 4.54*10^-11
+ 100 4.54*10^-09
+ 1000 4.54*10^-07
+ 10000 4.54*10^-05
+
+ Based on this analysis, the uniqueness of locally generated Global
+ IDs is adequate for sites planning a small to moderate amount of
+ inter-site communication using locally generated Global IDs.
+
+3.3. Scope Definition
+
+ By default, the scope of these addresses is global. That is, they
+ are not limited by ambiguity like the site-local addresses defined in
+ [ADDARCH]. Rather, these prefixes are globally unique, and as such,
+ their applicability is greater than site-local addresses. Their
+ limitation is in the routability of the prefixes, which is limited to
+ a site and any explicit routing agreements with other sites to
+ propagate them (also see Section 4.1). Also, unlike site-locals, a
+ site may have more than one of these prefixes and use them at the
+ same time.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Hinden & Haberman Standards Track [Page 6]
+
+RFC 4193 Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses October 2005
+
+
+4. Operational Guidelines
+
+ The guidelines in this section do not require any change to the
+ normal routing and forwarding functionality in an IPv6 host or
+ router. These are configuration and operational usage guidelines.
+
+4.1. Routing
+
+ Local IPv6 addresses are designed to be routed inside of a site in
+ the same manner as other types of unicast addresses. They can be
+ carried in any IPv6 routing protocol without any change.
+
+ It is expected that they would share the same Subnet IDs with
+ provider-based global unicast addresses, if they were being used
+ concurrently [GLOBAL].
+
+ The default behavior of exterior routing protocol sessions between
+ administrative routing regions must be to ignore receipt of and not
+ advertise prefixes in the FC00::/7 block. A network operator may
+ specifically configure prefixes longer than FC00::/7 for inter-site
+ communication.
+
+ If BGP is being used at the site border with an ISP, the default BGP
+ configuration must filter out any Local IPv6 address prefixes, both
+ incoming and outgoing. It must be set both to keep any Local IPv6
+ address prefixes from being advertised outside of the site as well as
+ to keep these prefixes from being learned from another site. The
+ exception to this is if there are specific /48 or longer routes
+ created for one or more Local IPv6 prefixes.
+
+ For link-state IGPs, it is suggested that a site utilizing IPv6 local
+ address prefixes be contained within one IGP domain or area. By
+ containing an IPv6 local address prefix to a single link-state area
+ or domain, the distribution of prefixes can be controlled.
+
+4.2. Renumbering and Site Merging
+
+ The use of Local IPv6 addresses in a site results in making
+ communication that uses these addresses independent of renumbering a
+ site's provider-based global addresses.
+
+ When merging multiple sites, the addresses created with these
+ prefixes are unlikely to need to be renumbered because all of the
+ addresses have a high probability of being unique. Routes for each
+ specific prefix would have to be configured to allow routing to work
+ correctly between the formerly separate sites.
+
+
+
+
+
+Hinden & Haberman Standards Track [Page 7]
+
+RFC 4193 Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses October 2005
+
+
+4.3. Site Border Router and Firewall Packet Filtering
+
+ While no serious harm will be done if packets with these addresses
+ are sent outside of a site via a default route, it is recommended
+ that routers be configured by default to keep any packets with Local
+ IPv6 addresses from leaking outside of the site and to keep any site
+ prefixes from being advertised outside of their site.
+
+ Site border routers and firewalls should be configured to not forward
+ any packets with Local IPv6 source or destination addresses outside
+ of the site, unless they have been explicitly configured with routing
+ information about specific /48 or longer Local IPv6 prefixes. This
+ will ensure that packets with Local IPv6 destination addresses will
+ not be forwarded outside of the site via a default route. The
+ default behavior of these devices should be to install a "reject"
+ route for these prefixes. Site border routers should respond with
+ the appropriate ICMPv6 Destination Unreachable message to inform the
+ source that the packet was not forwarded. [ICMPV6]. This feedback is
+ important to avoid transport protocol timeouts.
+
+ Routers that maintain peering arrangements between Autonomous Systems
+ throughout the Internet should obey the recommendations for site
+ border routers, unless configured otherwise.
+
+4.4. DNS Issues
+
+ At the present time, AAAA and PTR records for locally assigned local
+ IPv6 addresses are not recommended to be installed in the global DNS.
+
+ For background on this recommendation, one of the concerns about
+ adding AAAA and PTR records to the global DNS for locally assigned
+ Local IPv6 addresses stems from the lack of complete assurance that
+ the prefixes are unique. There is a small possibility that the same
+ locally assigned IPv6 Local addresses will be used by two different
+ organizations both claiming to be authoritative with different
+ contents. In this scenario, it is likely there will be a connection
+ attempt to the closest host with the corresponding locally assigned
+ IPv6 Local address. This may result in connection timeouts,
+ connection failures indicated by ICMP Destination Unreachable
+ messages, or successful connections to the wrong host. Due to this
+ concern, adding AAAA records for these addresses to the global DNS is
+ thought to be unwise.
+
+ Reverse (address-to-name) queries for locally assigned IPv6 Local
+ addresses MUST NOT be sent to name servers for the global DNS, due to
+ the load that such queries would create for the authoritative name
+ servers for the ip6.arpa zone. This form of query load is not
+ specific to locally assigned Local IPv6 addresses; any current form
+
+
+
+Hinden & Haberman Standards Track [Page 8]
+
+RFC 4193 Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses October 2005
+
+
+ of local addressing creates additional load of this kind, due to
+ reverse queries leaking out of the site. However, since allowing
+ such queries to escape from the site serves no useful purpose, there
+ is no good reason to make the existing load problems worse.
+
+ The recommended way to avoid sending such queries to nameservers for
+ the global DNS is for recursive name server implementations to act as
+ if they were authoritative for an empty d.f.ip6.arpa zone and return
+ RCODE 3 for any such query. Implementations that choose this
+ strategy should allow it to be overridden, but returning an RCODE 3
+ response for such queries should be the default, both because this
+ will reduce the query load problem and also because, if the site
+ administrator has not set up the reverse tree corresponding to the
+ locally assigned IPv6 Local addresses in use, returning RCODE 3 is in
+ fact the correct answer.
+
+4.5. Application and Higher Level Protocol Issues
+
+ Application and other higher level protocols can treat Local IPv6
+ addresses in the same manner as other types of global unicast
+ addresses. No special handling is required. This type of address
+ may not be reachable, but that is no different from other types of
+ IPv6 global unicast address. Applications need to be able to handle
+ multiple addresses that may or may not be reachable at any point in
+ time. In most cases, this complexity should be hidden in APIs.
+
+ From a host's perspective, the difference between Local IPv6 and
+ other types of global unicast addresses shows up as different
+ reachability and could be handled by default in that way. In some
+ cases, it is better for nodes and applications to treat them
+ differently from global unicast addresses. A starting point might be
+ to give them preference over global unicast, but fall back to global
+ unicast if a particular destination is found to be unreachable. Much
+ of this behavior can be controlled by how they are allocated to nodes
+ and put into the DNS. However, it is useful if a host can have both
+ types of addresses and use them appropriately.
+
+ Note that the address selection mechanisms of [ADDSEL], and in
+ particular the policy override mechanism replacing default address
+ selection, are expected to be used on a site where Local IPv6
+ addresses are configured.
+
+4.6. Use of Local IPv6 Addresses for Local Communication
+
+ Local IPv6 addresses, like global scope unicast addresses, are only
+ assigned to nodes if their use has been enabled (via IPv6 address
+ autoconfiguration [ADDAUTO], DHCPv6 [DHCP6], or manually). They are
+
+
+
+
+Hinden & Haberman Standards Track [Page 9]
+
+RFC 4193 Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses October 2005
+
+
+ not created automatically in the way that IPv6 link-local addresses
+ are and will not appear or be used unless they are purposely
+ configured.
+
+ In order for hosts to autoconfigure Local IPv6 addresses, routers
+ have to be configured to advertise Local IPv6 /64 prefixes in router
+ advertisements, or a DHCPv6 server must have been configured to
+ assign them. In order for a node to learn the Local IPv6 address of
+ another node, the Local IPv6 address must have been installed in a
+ naming system (e.g., DNS, proprietary naming system, etc.) For these
+ reasons, controlling their usage in a site is straightforward.
+
+ To limit the use of Local IPv6 addresses the following guidelines
+ apply:
+
+ - Nodes that are to only be reachable inside of a site: The local
+ DNS should be configured to only include the Local IPv6
+ addresses of these nodes. Nodes with only Local IPv6 addresses
+ must not be installed in the global DNS.
+
+ - Nodes that are to be limited to only communicate with other
+ nodes in the site: These nodes should be set to only
+ autoconfigure Local IPv6 addresses via [ADDAUTO] or to only
+ receive Local IPv6 addresses via [DHCP6]. Note: For the case
+ where both global and Local IPv6 prefixes are being advertised
+ on a subnet, this will require a switch in the devices to only
+ autoconfigure Local IPv6 addresses.
+
+ - Nodes that are to be reachable from inside of the site and from
+ outside of the site: The DNS should be configured to include
+ the global addresses of these nodes. The local DNS may be
+ configured to also include the Local IPv6 addresses of these
+ nodes.
+
+ - Nodes that can communicate with other nodes inside of the site
+ and outside of the site: These nodes should autoconfigure global
+ addresses via [ADDAUTO] or receive global address via [DHCP6].
+ They may also obtain Local IPv6 addresses via the same
+ mechanisms.
+
+4.7. Use of Local IPv6 Addresses with VPNs
+
+ Local IPv6 addresses can be used for inter-site Virtual Private
+ Networks (VPN) if appropriate routes are set up. Because the
+ addresses are unique, these VPNs will work reliably and without the
+ need for translation. They have the additional property that they
+ will continue to work if the individual sites are renumbered or
+ merged.
+
+
+
+Hinden & Haberman Standards Track [Page 10]
+
+RFC 4193 Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses October 2005
+
+
+5. Global Routing Considerations
+
+ Section 4.1 provides operational guidelines that forbid default
+ routing of local addresses between sites. Concerns were raised to
+ the IPv6 working group and to the IETF as a whole that sites may
+ attempt to use local addresses as globally routed provider-
+ independent addresses. This section describes why using local
+ addresses as globally-routed provider-independent addresses is
+ unadvisable.
+
+5.1. From the Standpoint of the Internet
+
+ There is a mismatch between the structure of IPv6 local addresses and
+ the normal IPv6 wide area routing model. The /48 prefix of an IPv6
+ local addresses fits nowhere in the normal hierarchy of IPv6 unicast
+ addresses. Normal IPv6 unicast addresses can be routed
+ hierarchically down to physical subnet (link) level and only have to
+ be flat-routed on the physical subnet. IPv6 local addresses would
+ have to be flat-routed even over the wide area Internet.
+
+ Thus, packets whose destination address is an IPv6 local address
+ could be routed over the wide area only if the corresponding /48
+ prefix were carried by the wide area routing protocol in use, such as
+ BGP. This contravenes the operational assumption that long prefixes
+ will be aggregated into many fewer short prefixes, to limit the table
+ size and convergence time of the routing protocol. If a network uses
+ both normal IPv6 addresses [ADDARCH] and IPv6 local addresses, these
+ types of addresses will certainly not aggregate with each other,
+ since they differ from the most significant bit onwards. Neither
+ will IPv6 local addresses aggregate with each other, due to their
+ random bit patterns. This means that there would be a very
+ significant operational penalty for attempting to use IPv6 local
+ address prefixes generically with currently known wide area routing
+ technology.
+
+5.2. From the Standpoint of a Site
+
+ There are a number of design factors in IPv6 local addresses that
+ reduce the likelihood that IPv6 local addresses will be used as
+ arbitrary global unicast addresses. These include:
+
+ - The default rules to filter packets and routes make it very
+ difficult to use IPv6 local addresses for arbitrary use across
+ the Internet. For a site to use them as general purpose unicast
+ addresses, it would have to make sure that the default rules
+ were not being used by all other sites and intermediate ISPs
+ used for their current and future communication.
+
+
+
+
+Hinden & Haberman Standards Track [Page 11]
+
+RFC 4193 Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses October 2005
+
+
+ - They are not mathematically guaranteed to be unique and are not
+ registered in public databases. Collisions, while highly
+ unlikely, are possible and a collision can compromise the
+ integrity of the communications. The lack of public
+ registration creates operational problems.
+
+ - The addresses are allocated randomly. If a site had multiple
+ prefixes that it wanted to be used globally, the cost of
+ advertising them would be very high because they could not be
+ aggregated.
+
+ - They have a long prefix (i.e., /48) so a single local address
+ prefix doesn't provide enough address space to be used
+ exclusively by the largest organizations.
+
+6. Advantages and Disadvantages
+
+6.1. Advantages
+
+ This approach has the following advantages:
+
+ - Provides Local IPv6 prefixes that can be used independently of
+ any provider-based IPv6 unicast address allocations. This is
+ useful for sites not always connected to the Internet or sites
+ that wish to have a distinct prefix that can be used to localize
+ traffic inside of the site.
+
+ - Applications can treat these addresses in an identical manner as
+ any other type of global IPv6 unicast addresses.
+
+ - Sites can be merged without any renumbering of the Local IPv6
+ addresses.
+
+ - Sites can change their provider-based IPv6 unicast address
+ without disrupting any communication that uses Local IPv6
+ addresses.
+
+ - Well-known prefix that allows for easy filtering at site
+ boundary.
+
+ - Can be used for inter-site VPNs.
+
+ - If accidently leaked outside of a site via routing or DNS, there
+ is no conflict with any other addresses.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Hinden & Haberman Standards Track [Page 12]
+
+RFC 4193 Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses October 2005
+
+
+6.2. Disadvantages
+
+ This approach has the following disadvantages:
+
+ - Not possible to route Local IPv6 prefixes on the global Internet
+ with current routing technology. Consequentially, it is
+ necessary to have the default behavior of site border routers to
+ filter these addresses.
+
+ - There is a very low probability of non-unique locally assigned
+ Global IDs being generated by the algorithm in Section 3.2.3.
+ This risk can be ignored for all practical purposes, but it
+ leads to a theoretical risk of clashing address prefixes.
+
+7. Security Considerations
+
+ Local IPv6 addresses do not provide any inherent security to the
+ nodes that use them. They may be used with filters at site
+ boundaries to keep Local IPv6 traffic inside of the site, but this is
+ no more or less secure than filtering any other type of global IPv6
+ unicast addresses.
+
+ Local IPv6 addresses do allow for address-based security mechanisms,
+ including IPsec, across end to end VPN connections.
+
+8. IANA Considerations
+
+ The IANA has assigned the FC00::/7 prefix to "Unique Local Unicast".
+
+9. References
+
+9.1. Normative References
+
+ [ADDARCH] Hinden, R. and S. Deering, "Internet Protocol Version 6
+ (IPv6) Addressing Architecture", RFC 3513, April 2003.
+
+ [FIPS] "Federal Information Processing Standards Publication",
+ (FIPS PUB) 180-1, Secure Hash Standard, 17 April 1995.
+
+ [GLOBAL] Hinden, R., Deering, S., and E. Nordmark, "IPv6 Global
+ Unicast Address Format", RFC 3587, August 2003.
+
+ [ICMPV6] Conta, A. and S. Deering, "Internet Control Message
+ Protocol (ICMPv6) for the Internet Protocol Version 6
+ (IPv6) Specification", RFC 2463, December 1998.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Hinden & Haberman Standards Track [Page 13]
+
+RFC 4193 Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses October 2005
+
+
+ [IPV6] Deering, S. and R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol, Version 6
+ (IPv6) Specification", RFC 2460, December 1998.
+
+ [NTP] Mills, D., "Network Time Protocol (Version 3)
+ Specification, Implementation and Analysis", RFC 1305,
+ March 1992.
+
+ [RANDOM] Eastlake, D., 3rd, Schiller, J., and S. Crocker,
+ "Randomness Requirements for Security", BCP 106, RFC 4086,
+ June 2005.
+
+ [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
+ Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
+
+ [SHA1] Eastlake 3rd, D. and P. Jones, "US Secure Hash Algorithm 1
+ (SHA1)", RFC 3174, September 2001.
+
+9.2. Informative References
+
+ [ADDAUTO] Thomson, S. and T. Narten, "IPv6 Stateless Address
+ Autoconfiguration", RFC 2462, December 1998.
+
+ [ADDSEL] Draves, R., "Default Address Selection for Internet
+ Protocol version 6 (IPv6)", RFC 3484, February 2003.
+
+ [DHCP6] Droms, R., Bound, J., Volz, B., Lemon, T., Perkins, C., and
+ M. Carney, "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6
+ (DHCPv6)", RFC 3315, July 2003.
+
+ [POPUL] Population Reference Bureau, "World Population Data Sheet
+ of the Population Reference Bureau 2002", August 2002.
+
+ [RTP] Schulzrinne, H., Casner, S., Frederick, R., and V.
+ Jacobson, "RTP: A Transport Protocol for Real-Time
+ Applications", STD 64, RFC 3550, July 2003.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Hinden & Haberman Standards Track [Page 14]
+
+RFC 4193 Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses October 2005
+
+
+Authors' Addresses
+
+ Robert M. Hinden
+ Nokia
+ 313 Fairchild Drive
+ Mountain View, CA 94043
+ USA
+
+ Phone: +1 650 625-2004
+ EMail: bob.hinden@nokia.com
+
+
+ Brian Haberman
+ Johns Hopkins University
+ Applied Physics Lab
+ 11100 Johns Hopkins Road
+ Laurel, MD 20723
+ USA
+
+ Phone: +1 443 778 1319
+ EMail: brian@innovationslab.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Hinden & Haberman Standards Track [Page 15]
+
+RFC 4193 Unique Local IPv6 Unicast Addresses October 2005
+
+
+Full Copyright Statement
+
+ Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).
+
+ This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions
+ contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors
+ retain all their rights.
+
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+
+Acknowledgement
+
+ Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
+ Internet Society.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Hinden & Haberman Standards Track [Page 16]
+