IPv6 prefixes longer then /64: are they possible in DOCSIS networks?

Ray Soucy rps at maine.edu
Tue Nov 29 17:46:45 UTC 2011


Could you provide an example of such an ACL that can prevent neighbor
table exhaustion while maintaining a usable 64-bit prefix?  I am
intrigued.

On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 12:21 PM, Owen DeLong <owen at delong.com> wrote:
>
> On Nov 29, 2011, at 4:58 AM, Dmitry Cherkasov wrote:
>
>> Thanks to everybody participating in the discussion.
>> I try to summarize.
>>
>> 1) There is no any obvious benefit of using longer prefixes then /64
>> in DOCSIS networks yet there are no definite objections to use them
>> except that it violates best practices and may lead to some problems
>> in the future
>>
>> 2) DHCPv6 server can use any algorithm to generate interface ID part
>> of the address, and EUI-64 may be just one of them that can be useful
>> for keeping correspondence between MAC and IPv6 addresses. Yet if we
>> use EUI-64 we definitely need to use /64 prefix
>>
>> 3) Using /64 networks possesses potential security threat related to
>> neighbor tables overflow. This is wide IPv6 problem and not related to
>> DOCSIS only
>>
> 99% of which can be easily mitigated by ACLs, especially in the context
> you are describing.
>
>> There were also notes about address usage on link networks. Though
>> this was out of the scope of original question it is agreed that using
>> /64 is not reasonable here. BTW, RFC6164 (Using 127-Bit IPv6 Prefixes
>> on Inter-Router Links) can be mentioned here.
>>
>
> I don't agree that using /64 on link networks is not reasonable. It's perfectly
> fine and there is no policy against it. There are risks (buggy router code
> having ping pong attack exposure, ND table overflow attacks if not
> protected by ACL), but, otherwise, there's nothing wrong with it.
>
> Owen
>
>>
>> Dmitry Cherkasov
>>
>>
>>
>> 2011/11/29 Dmitry Cherkasov <doctorchd at gmail.com>:
>>> Tore,
>>>
>>> To comply with this policy we delegate at least /64 to end-users
>>> gateways. But this policy does not cover the network between WAN
>>> interfaces of CPE and ISP access gateway.
>>>
>>> Dmitry Cherkasov
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 2011/11/29 Tore Anderson <tore.anderson at redpill-linpro.com>:
>>>> * Dmitry Cherkasov
>>>>
>>>>> I am determining technical requirements to IPv6 provisioning system
>>>>> for DOCSIS networks and I am deciding if it is worth to restrict user
>>>>> to use not less then /64 networks on cable interface. It is obvious
>>>>> that no true economy of IP addresses can be achieved with increasing
>>>>> prefix length above 64 bits.
>>>>
>>>> I am not familiar with DOCSIS networks, but I thought I'd note that in
>>>> order to comply with the RIPE policies, you must assign at least a /64
>>>> or shorter to each end user:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/ripe-523#assignment_size
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Tore Anderson
>>>> Redpill Linpro AS - http://www.redpill-linpro.com
>
>
>



-- 
Ray Soucy

Epic Communications Specialist

Phone: +1 (207) 561-3526

Networkmaine, a Unit of the University of Maine System
http://www.networkmaine.net/




More information about the NANOG mailing list