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8.10: ICMPv6

  • Page ID
    11171
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    RFC 4443 [https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4443.html] defines an updated version of the ICMP protocol for IPv6. As with the IPv4 version, messages are identified by 8-bit type and code (subtype) fields, making it reasonably easy to add new message formats. We have already seen the ICMP messages that make up Neighbor Discovery (8.6 Neighbor Discovery).

    Unlike ICMPv4, ICMPv6 distinguishes between informational and error messages by the first bit of the type field. Unknown informational messages are simply dropped, while unknown error messages must be handed off, if possible, to the appropriate upper-layer process. For example, “[UDP] port unreachable” messages are to be delivered to the UDP sender of the undeliverable packet.

    ICMPv6 includes an IPv6 version of Echo Request / Echo Reply, upon which the “ping6” command (8.12.1 ping6) is based; unlike with IPv4, arriving IPv6 echo-reply messages are delivered to the process that generated the corresponding echo request. The base ICMPv6 specification also includes formats for the error conditions below; this list is somewhat cleaner than the corresponding ICMPv4 list:

    Destination Unreachable

    In this case, one of the following numeric codes is returned:

    1. No route to destination, returned when a router has no next_hop entry.
    2. Communication with destination administratively prohibited, returned when a router has a next_hop entry, but declines to use it for policy reasons. Codes 5 and 6, below, are special cases of this situation; these more-specific codes are returned when appropriate.
    3. Beyond scope of source address, returned when a router is, for example, asked to route a packet to a global address, but the return address is not, eg is unique-local. In IPv4, when a host with a private address attempts to connect to a global address, NAT is almost always involved.
    4. Address unreachable, a catchall category for routing failure not covered by any other message. An example is if the packet was successfully routed to the last_hop router, but Neighbor Discovery failed to find a LAN address corresponding to the IPv6 address.
    5. Port unreachable, returned when, as in ICMPv4, the destination host does not have the requested UDP port open.
    6. Source address failed ingress/egress policy, see code 1.
    7. Reject route to destination, see code 1.

    Packet Too Big

    This is like ICMPv4’s “Fragmentation Required but DontFragment flag set”; IPv6 however has no router-based fragmentation.

    Time Exceeded

    This is used for cases where the Hop Limit was exceeded, and also where source-based fragmentation was used and the fragment-reassembly timer expired.

    Parameter Problem

    This is used when there is a malformed entry in the IPv6 header, an unrecognized Next Header type, or an unrecognized IPv6 option.

    _node information:

  • 8.9.1 Node Information Messages

    ICMPv6 also includes Node Information (NI) Messages, defined in RFC 4620 [https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4620.html]. One form of NI query allows a host to be asked directly for its name; this is accomplished in IPv4 via reverse-DNS lookups (7.8.2 Other DNS Records). Other NI queries allow a host to be asked for its other IPv6 addresses, or for its IPv4 addresses. Recipients of NI queries may be configured to refuse to answer.


  • This page titled 8.10: ICMPv6 is shared under a CC BY-NC-ND license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Peter Lars Dordal.

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